


The Devil and the Black Sky: Reckoning

by Bl4ckHunter



Series: The Defenders Return [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: F/M, Revenge, alternate season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-02-16 07:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 42,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bl4ckHunter/pseuds/Bl4ckHunter
Summary: Sequel to THE DEVIL AND THE BLACK SKY: ROAD TO REDEMPTION. Wilson Fisk is freed from prison and hellbent on taking revenge on the man, who put him behind bars, uniting dangerous foes in order to destroy his nemesis and everyone he cares about.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Matt struggles with his inner demons, Maki plots first steps of her revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sequel to The Devil and the Black Sky: Road to Redemption. I wanted to at least get it started but updates are going to be 1-2 chapters per week, until I finish the semester in college and then I'll try to update the story as often as I can, which will be sometime in June. The prologue takes place before Daredevil Season 3 before I actually get to it but with creative liberties of mine, being inspired by Marvel comic books.
> 
> I think Aragorn II Elessar has done an excellent job with The revenge of Fisk and the Throwing Star killer but I will try my best to make this story good as well.
> 
> I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Two thugs were harassing a man and a woman in the street as a man in black outfit and a scarf around his eyes and covering his hair and bandaged hands descended from above, beating up the thugs. One of the thugs ran away in fear as the masked man beat up the other one, lying on the ground until his face was bloodied and bruised as Matt panted out in exhaustion, letting out his frustration and anger as the thug was knocked out.

* * *

**_Later, Clinton Church_ **

Matt entered the crypt area of the church as he put down his mask and sighed in exhaustion before he sat on a bench.

"You were out again." Sister Maggie said as Matt turned his head to her. "Why do you keep doing this, Matthew? Hiding down here, feeling sorry for yourself and venting your anger and frustration out on the lowlifes out there? Just out back, there's an orphanage full of kids, who've lost everything and everyone. Some of them disabled, much worse off than you ever were. And they're still trying to make the most out of life, the little cowards."

"OK, alright." Matt grumbled.

"And here you are, with all the gifts God gave you." Maggie said. "Handsome, smart, a law degree and people who care about you. And you're bravely giving up."

"Well, thank you for the tough love, Sister and your charmingly simplistic view of God and the world." Matt replied as he got up on his feet. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, I really do but don't for a second think you know anything about me or my life."

"I've been a nun for thirty years." Maggie retorted. "I know self-pity, when I hear it."

"OK, good." Matt shrugged, not caring about her arguments as he was about to leave.

"Your father was famous around here." Maggie informed Matt, causing for him to stop. "I saw him fight. I saw him go down many times. But he never stayed down."

Matt sighed, thinking about Maggie's arguments before he left the church.

* * *

Matt entered through the roof window as Elektra was in the bed, peacefully sleeping, naked under the blanket before Matt lied next to her as she weakly opened her eyes and turned to him. "Are you alright, Matthew?" Matt didn't reply. "You were out again?"

"It's the only thing keeping me going." Matt said. "I can't be Matt Murdock and the Devil at the same time. And we've both tried to move on but… right now, it's the only path I see in front of me right now."

"You promised me we'd figure this out together." Elektra reminded as she held his hand.

"I keep thinking about what has happened between Danny, Colleen and Davos." Matt said. "Something finds its way to corrupt those we care about. And I just can't shake off…"

"Matthew. You can't lose faith." Elektra pleaded, gently holding his hand.

"I'm just not sure if I can." Matt said and Elektra wasn't sure how to console him.

* * *

_**Ryker's Island** _

Fisk laughed as Maki Matsumoto, one of the former leaders of the Hand, filled him in on the information she had gathered about Matt Murdock and his allies.

"This… certainly is… educating." Fisk smiled.

"We both know they need to suffer. All of them. Matthew Murdock and his friends took everything from us." Maki said, her smile matching his, one of satisfaction and vindication.

"I'm going to enjoy taking everything from them." Fisk said.

"And I know of… other people with certain skills, who might be as interested as you in… retribution." Maki promised.

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

In another prison, Davos was in his cell, doing pull-ups until lights flickered and Davos got down and saw the guards dead with slit throats. Davos got into a defensive stance as ninjas of the Hand approached his cell.

"What do you want?" Davos glared at his sworn enemies. "If you have come to finish me off…"

"We've come to offer you something you might enjoy." One of the ninjas of the Hand promised. "Vengeance. Upon your… brother and a… disciple who has betrayed us. You and we… we want retribution upon people, who have turned their backs on us."

Davos lowered his guard and listened, intrigued. "I'm listening."

The ninja unlocked Davos's cell. "Should you wish revenge for losing the Fist, we shall offer it." Davos left the cell, following the ninjas. "Good choice. But first of all, we need to free another… ally of ours."

"Who?" Davos asked as in another cell was a man with short hair and unshaved face.

"Shades Alvarez?" The ninja asked and Shades got up. "Today's your new day as a free man."

* * *

**_China_ **

"You sure this is the place?" Ward asked.

"It's where Orson Randall had his warehouse." Danny looked at the address as he knocked on the door before it opened and Danny and Ward looked surprised to see a middle-aged Caucasian man. "Orson Randall?"

"Can I help you?"

* * *

**_Matt Murdock's apartment_ **

Karen was cleaning up Matt's apartment, as usual and, perhaps foolishly hoping that Matt would come back, wondering where he was.

* * *

_**Ryker's Island** _

FBI agent Ray Nadeem entered the room, having been assigned to an errand he thought a waste of time, as he sat across Wilson Fisk in cuffs in prison uniform.

"Mr. Fisk, I'm Special Agent Ray Nadeem with the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Ray showed his badge. "The FBI would like your assistance with…" He sighed, already expecting Fisk to tell him to go to hell. "Let's cut to the part, where you tell me to eat shit, so we can stop wasting each other's time, huh?"

"Tell me, Special Agent Nadeem, do you have anyone in your life who you love so much, you'd do anything to protect them?" Fisk asked.

"Are you threatening me?" Ray asked but Fisk's only reply was a staring gaze at the agent.

"I have made many mistakes. But I accept the debt I'm paying because of them but what I will not accept, is that the woman that I love should have to pay for them, too." Fisk said before taking a breath. "I would do anything to protect her.  _Anything_."

Ray leaned forward, listening carefully. "Sorry. What is it you're saying?"

"I want to make a deal." Fisk said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


	2. Clues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny investigates Orson Randall as Matt deals with shocking news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"This was not supposed to be my life anymore. It was supposed to be over." Orson said.

* * *

_**Years ago, K'un-L'un** _

_"Show yourself or your brothers will die!" The ninjas of the Hand warned, having the warriors of K'un-L'un on their knees at the passageway with blades nearing their throats._

_Orson was taking cover behind a rock before he charged his Iron Fist and jumped, slamming his fist to the ground, knocking everyone away._

* * *

**_Present_ **

"The Fist has… taken its toll on my body." Orson said, showing Danny his bandaged hand. "One day, it would have been my death. It would have killed me. The greatest weapon that was supposed to protect K'un-L'un."

"You were the Iron Fist?" Danny asked, intrigued as he and Ward listened patiently.

"I know, who you are, Danny." Orson said. "My story of arrival to K'un-L'un is the same as yours. Our airship crashed into the heart of the city… the one day in ten years, when it was on this plane of existence. It was a miracle that no one died that day. Either in the air… or in the city."

"I've heard that some outsiders crashed outside K'un-L'un before but never the details." Danny admitted.

"Of course you didn't. Why would you?" Orson smiled. "Few weeks later, I was born there and accepted as their native-born son. Trained by Yu-Ti and then Lei Kung. The Thunderer."

"Lei Kung? My sensei?" Danny widened his eyes, considering how old Orson looked.

"You've met the Hand, haven't you?" Orson reminded. "Chi… it is a source of life. We used it as it was necessary. The Hand… all they cared about was living forever and gaining power. Lei Kung was my master and my friend too."

"Why did you send Davos the corpse of the Iron Fist? Who was it?" Danny asked.

"Someone before me." Orson said as he drank his tea. "I stopped caring about K'un-L'un long ago but honestly, I was heartbroken when I heard that it had fallen. Davos told me a message that the Iron Fist was in the hands of a pretender, who abandoned them… and perhaps I should have known better, considering what occurred in New York."

Danny and Ward widened their eyes. "How did you…"

"I've been keeping my eye on you since I heard what has happened few weeks ago." Orson said. "I know that look in your eyes. Struggling with purpose, filling the void within you… so you pass your mantle onto your lover, a former disciple of the Hand?"

"She is stronger and more determined than I could ever be." Danny said. "She knows her path. I'm still trying to find my own."

"I thought Davos was the one true Iron Fist." Orson wondered.

"He lost his path. Lost his mind. All because of hurt pride… and it was my fault." Danny admitted. "I've been trying to fix it since then."

"I see." Orson got up as Danny and Ward followed him to what seemed to be a large training room. "Give me your best shot."

"What?" Danny asked, confused.

"Give me your best shot." Orson repeated as he charged his Iron Fist and Ward and Danny realized what was he doing.

"Uh, Ward, you might want to…"

"Yeah, no kidding." Ward ran to the corner of the room before Orson and Danny roared, rushing at each other with their Iron Fists and upon impact, a large shockwave shattered the windows, cracked the walls and floors as Ward was knocked down on the ground and Danny and Orson were sliding across the floor in the opposite directions, barely able to stand.

"Impressive." Orson said.

* * *

Orson then held in his hands two guns as he fired chi rounds as Danny did so a few moments later as they were shooting bottles.

"Where did you learn that?" Orson asked.

"I didn't. It was… instinct." Danny said. Orson then reached for a yellow book that glowed and was written in Chinese. "What is this?" Danny asked.

"Our history, Danny. History of the Iron Fist written on the parchment made from the scales of Shou-Lao himself." Orson explained.

Danny touched it as the book's glow intensified.

"We all draw power from the same source. All Iron Fists." Danny realized. "That's why it's glowing in your and my hands."

"The secrets of our art. From the first Iron Fist, passed onto the next and the next, until me." Orson explained.

"Wait, this contains all your Kung Fu?" Ward realized.

"Take this. They'll be coming for you, just as they came for me." Orson said.

"Who?" Danny asked.

"It's your legacy now, Danny." Orson said before he collapsed and closed his eyes with a smile. "Make me proud, boy… make the Thunderer proud…" He tilted his head and drew his last breath as Danny looked saddened. There was so much he could have learned from Orson… but he had the book that contained the secrets of K'un-L'un.

"Danny… I don't even know what to say." Ward said.

Danny looked over the book briefly before he widened his eyes. "We need to get back to New York. Colleen needs to see this."

* * *

_**New York** _

"FBI!"

FBI agents burst in with Ray as he aimed his gun at a maid, holding a tray with cups. "FBI! Don't move!" The maid dropped the tray in fear as Ray went upstairs with other agents. "Freeze!"

"Where are you going?"

"Off the bed!" Ray ordered as he aimed his gun at a man in underpants in a bedroom before one of the agents pinned him to the wall. "Hands up! Show me your hands! Cuff him!"

"You have no right." One of the Albanians protested as the FBI agents were apprehending them. "Do you understand? You have no right."

* * *

**_FBI HQ_ **

Rah was greeted with an applause as Wellers shook his hand with him and hugged him. "You got Mother Teresa. You actually bagged that asshole."

"Got his number one and number two also." Ray said. "And two judges, district police cap, a freaking deputy mayor…"

"This is gonna be a messy day for City Hall." Wellers smiled. "The Albanians had to be buying those guys off with more than tail."

"Burgos got their computers, so we're gonna find their money." Ray said. "Once we start tracking it, who knows how far this goes?"

"Thank you, Wilson Fisk." Wellers nodded.

"He's a gift that's gonna keep on giving." Ray said.

"I don't trust him. Once a crook, always a crook." A male agent around 40 years old with short brown hair said.

"Come on, Charles, as long as he keeps giving up, what does it matter?" Wellers said.

"Do I know you?" Ray asked.

"Ray, this is Charles Bernard. Transferred from Iowa few weeks ago." Wellers said.

"Iowa? What brings you here to New York?" Ray asked as he shook his hand with his new colleague.

"Family. Personal stuff. It's complicated. Let's just say I came to figure some things out. And please, call me Barney, everyone does." Barney said.

"I see." Ray nodded.

* * *

**_Ryker's Island_ **

Fisk entered the weight room as a spotter was helping him with the bench press until the spotter gave Fisk a murdering glare. "Snitch." Suddenly, he pulled out a shiv and stabbed Fisk in the side of the abdomen. Yelling in pain, Fisk threw the spotter away as the weight fell on his neck. Fisk stepped on it as it pressed on the spotter's neck and he started to gasp for air. Fisk picked a weight, about to smash the spotter's face.

"No! No, don't! No!" The inmate begged. To his surprise, Fisk dropped the weight on the floor next to the inmate before the alarm blared and P.A. turned on.

" _All Tier 2 COs, we have a 10-49 in progress in the weight room. All Tier 2 COs, we have a fight in the weight room._ "

Fisk sat down quietly as the guards entered, apprehending the attacker.

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

Matt was bandaging his wounds as Maggie entered. "You keep beating the hell out of lowlifes, who weren't trying to hurt you and your brilliant next move is to go out and pick another fight?"

"Go away." Matt ordered.

"I have a special gift too." Maggie said. "I am impervious to bad attitude. So, you can throw your self-pitying bullshit at me all day around and I'll still be standing right here. Pissed off, maybe but right here." Matt sat down, frustrated. "You're gonna talk to me."

"Why did you become a nun?" Matt asked.

"I heard God's call." Maggie replied.

"So, you feel like being a nun is what you're meant to be?" Matt questioned.

Maggie nodded. "Yes. Very much."

"What if you couldn't be one anymore?" Matt asked. "What if it were taken from you?"

"Your point being that if we can't fulfill our calling, we might be better off as worm food?" Maggie inquired.

"Answer the question." Matt insisted.

Maggie scoffed. "I'll tell you what I wouldn't do. I wouldn't lose faith. I'd find some other purpose."

"If you can be anything else, it was never really your calling." Matt said. "Just tell me honestly, if you could no longer be a nun, wouldn't you grieve?"

"Of course I would." Maggie replied.

"Then please go away." Matt ordered.

Maggie neared him, not caring about his attitude. "I understand what it's like to feel lost, Matthew. It happened to me too once. A long time ago, when I was still a novitiate, I left the order for a while."

"Why?" Matt wondered.

"I was considering a very different life. It was wonderful and terrifying." Maggie answered. "I struggled to know which life God wanted me to choose. I prayed. I looked for signs. In the end, I just had to do my best to figure it out."

"Well, there you go. That is the difference between us." Matt said as he got up. "I no longer care what God wants."

"Oh, right, almost forgot, you've seen his true face now." Maggie drawled.

* * *

_**FBI** _

After Ray was done talking with Hattley, Barney waited for Ray outside as Ray looked annoyed. "You must feel honored that you're doing this. Wilson Fisk."

"I… guess." Ray nodded. "Fisk… he's a golden mine."

"You sure about that?" Barney questioned. "My gut tells me not to trust him."

"Why are you so pessimistic, Barney?" Ray asked.

"Let's just say it runs in the family. Never trust the first sight of things." Barney said. "Speaking of which, there are some news about Fisk you might want to know."

* * *

**_Ryker's Island_ **

"How the hell did you let this happen?" Ray demanded as he walked down the corridor with the guard.

"Don't try to pin this shit on us." The guard growled. "He's your snitch."

Ray entered the infirmary as Fisk sat down. "You OK? They said it was superficial."

"I find it quite profound." Fisk said.

"Don't start. We're not playing games here." Ray warned.

"It's deadly serious for me." Fisk argued.

"What? Some guy with a shank?" Ray scoffed.

"It's not something I fear a great deal. But we're not dealing with one person here. Word is out. Everyone knows. Guards and inmates, it seems they know I'm cooperating with you." Fisk said.

"Which you are going to continue to do, Mr. Fisk." Ray told him. "This was not a one-off. You want us to help Vanessa clear herself of criminal charges, you need to continue deliver actionable information. Do you understand?"

Fisk took a breath. "I have suddenly become a target within these walls here. Do you understand? I'm helping you to help Vanessa but I can't do either of those things if I'm dead."

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

"I used to listen to people's prayers." Matt said as he and Lantom entered the main hall. "In here… and out on the street. You know, people asking for God's help or justice or… vengeance sometimes. See, it's always the same. " _Please, God._ " I thought that God let me hear the prayers, so that I could answer. So, that's what I did. That's what I was trying to do. Trying to help people. When I heard all those prayers, all those suffering people, I thought it was God's voice." Matt said. "But I was wrong. All I ever heard was people in pain. And all he ever gave any of us was…. silence."

"What are you saying?" Lantom asked, not understanding

"No matter what I do… no matter how hard I try to help people I care about… something finds a way to rip us apart. Hurt us. I almost lost my friends again… one of them may have lost his best friend to the darkness." Matt said. "And I couldn't help him as Matt Murdock… I don't get to choose who I am. I'm Daredevil. Not even God can stop that now."

* * *

Matt walked outside the church before he came across "HAPPY CLEANERS" van as there was a man in the van with a notepad, writing something down.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a dry cleaner." Matt said.

"Not doing pickups right now." The driver said. "But we're on the 14th street, address is on the side there."

Matt chuckled. "Here's where it gets awkward. I'm actually looking for a different place." The driver turned around as he noticed that Matt was actually blind. "I got a whiff of their delivery van last night and it didn't smell like this. Not like chemicals, it was more… herbal."

"Kinda grassy, maybe?" The driver asked, already suspecting which place was Matt looking for.

"Yeah, sure, like that." Matt said, remembering.

"I know the place." The driver nodded.

* * *

**_Metro General_ **

Karen approached the woman who had been attacked previous night as she was looking at her father, who was on life support and in coma. After some convincing, she got filled in on who rescued them before she realized that Matt had returned.

* * *

_**FBI** _

"You're out of your damn mind." D.A. Blake Tower said as he and NYPD Commissioner Chris DiMolina sat across Special Agent in Charge Hattley and Ray.

"Fisk's imprisonment would continue at a private location under the constant supervision of the FBI." Hattley argued.

"That's house incarceration, usually served for white-collar criminals awaiting trial." Blake said.

"He was shanked by an inmate a couple of hours ago." Hattley reminded.

"Good, he's a cop killer." DiMolina snapped, not caring about Fisk's welfare.

"That wasn't proven in court." Hattley said.

"Yeah and whose fault is that?" DiMolina glared at her.

"We put on a good trial, five counts under RICO was a giant win." Hattley shot back.

"Which you're about to give away." Blake pointed out.

"You're the District Attorney, Mr. Tower." Hattley told him. "Think of the long game here. We can't prosecute everything Fisk is giving us at the federal level. It's gonna trickle down."

"You're trying to buy the NYPD with collars and me with convictions." Blake said, disgusted by Hattley's tactics.

"When Fisk's intel leads to the biggest crime drop in a decade…"

"The guy's a piece of shit."

"You're right." Ray said suddenly as Hattley turned to him with shocked eyes. "Wilson Fisk is a piece of shit. After every time I'm in the room with the guy, I want a shower. But, let's talk about the Albanians for a minute, what they have done. Four dead NYPD officers, twelve more riding desks with disabilities. One hundred and seven civilian murders. And even after five task forces over seven years to the tune of $11 million, we got zero. Those are some shitty numbers. And here's another one. At Fisk's intel, we beheaded the Albanian syndicate in one day. One. Single. Day. No loss of life, no injuries, no mayhem. I mean, look at the take."

Ray got up, pointing at the evidence in bag that they had collected. "We got their documents and data and we're gonna get their money. Best of all, we bagged corrupt officials, whose protection they were selling. A lot of cases they've been interfering with may finally get somewhere. Look, none of us like it, it makes me want to throw up to admit it. But New York is safer tonight because of Wilson Fisk. "

"Now I need a shower." DiMolina sighed, not wanting to believe that Ray was right as he leaned back towards his seat.

"If we keep him talking, Fisk will give up others. This deal will save lives." Ray pleaded.

"Tell me you're not going to do this." DiMolina turned to Blake, who weighed his options.

* * *

_**Elsewhere** _

After finding the place and the man he had been looking for, Matt, in his vigilante outfit, snuck into the lower level of the dry cleaner's, following the smell as he found the chemicals and a shock baton. Matt then approached a fuse box and turned off the lights.

"God damn it, we must have blown a fuse." The thug said before he approached the fuse box. "Hello!" Matt snuck up on the thug as he noticed Matt. "You!"

Matt shocked the thug and slammed him to a wall, knocking him out. Another thug grabbed Matt and slammed him to the shelves as Matt blocked his punches before slamming him to the shelves and pushing him back. Matt then hit him in the face, knocking him out before he zip-cuffed the thug to the fence and dialed 9-1-1 on the nearby phone. "Yeah, I'd like to report an assault. I didn't see what happened but there were a lot of guns here. Maybe some kind of a robbery."

* * *

_**Nelson's Meats** _

Karen entered the shop as Foggy was talking with his brother Theo. "Hi."

"Perfect timing." Foggy smiled. "Now everyone can stop worrying about my career choices and stop worrying about me cheating on Marci, much better."

"Can I talk to you?" Karen asked and Foggy noticed she was freaked out.

"What's wrong?" Foggy asked, worried as Karen hugged him.

"I think Matt's alive." Karen whispered as Foggy followed her into the corner. "Listen, I've been asking around and in the past couple of weeks in Chinatown, a man in black mask was walking around, beating up the thugs with the man with the glowing fists and recently, he showed up in downtown."

"So, the guy in the mask, he wasn't in, you know, devil suit?" Foggy argued, trying to get Karen off the trail.

"No but he was wearing a black mask." Karen said.

"So it could be anybody." Foggy pointed out.

"It could also  _not_  be anybody." Karen argued.

"Hell's Kitchen is ground zero for vigilantes these days. Believe me, I want it to be Matt too but he's… gone." Foggy said but Karen shook her head. "We need to get past that."

"No, there is no proof of that." Karen retorted. "And until there is…"

"You know how I know he's gone?" Foggy asked. "Because if it was Matt, if he was really still alive, he would've reached out to us."

Karen glared at Foggy, seeing through his crap. "You know how I know that you don't really believe that? You keep saying " _gone_ " instead of " _dead_ ". Now, don't you want to take a minute and just be absolutely sure that's not your best friend out there somewhere?"

"I wish it was my best friend." Foggy said honestly. "But it's not. He's dead." Karen gave Foggy one more fierce glare before leaving the shop in anger. "Come on, Karen, stay."

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

Fisk, Ray and Barney were driving down the street with a protective detail until an explosion followed, flipping the car with Fisk over. The agents were being ambushed by Albanians. Fisk panicked as Ray and Barney disappeared and the Albanians were ambushing the convoy. And then, to Fisk's astonishment, one of the agents killed them with headshots, pinpoint accuracy and then executed the thugs that surrendered before two Albanians approached the agent from behind. The agent pulled out two empty magazines and threw them at the Albanians, embedding them on their throats as they fell down, dead. Fisk crawled out from the car before Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter aimed his gun at him.

"Convict. Don't move."

* * *

_**Metro General** _

Matt left the hospital after he visited the family he had just rescued until he heard sirens blare and ambulances and police cruisers driving down the streets like if something terrible had just happened until the one bad news just made his world spin around.

"God-damned Albanians killed everyone except Fisk!"

"Somebody said he's en route to the safe house."

"It's a damn shitshow, the FBI just let Wilson Fisk out of prison."

Matt felt like if his world had just turned upside down. First Maki and Ikari came for revenge, then he had to help Danny stop Davos, now one of his most dangerous enemies was released from prison?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm cutting short some stuff since I don't like doing play-by-play rewrites if you don't mind. You may have noticed that some stuff is inspired by older Iron Fist comic books and the character "Barney" here is based on a same named comic book character, if you don't suspect who it is, you will see and before you start thinking that, he is not a villain in this story and just to imagine a face, imagine he's being played by Nathan Fillion.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	3. Sneaking into the hotel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt investigates Fisk as he sneaks into the hotel while Danny and Colleen have to deal with shocking truth and unexpected assault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fisk was accompanied to the penthouse in the top floor of the hotel by Ray, Dex and Barney.

"You will be confined to these quarters." Ray said. "You'll be monitored at all times, you are allowed no outside contact other than your lawyers. Armed guards will be stationed outside 24/7." Ray approached Fisk and uncuffed him. "You'll be safe here."

" _Safe_?" Fisk scoffed. "You nearly had me killed."

"Good men died tonight!" Ray growled, nearing Fisk's face with intense glare. "You  _will_  make their sacrifice worth something or you can shove our deal up your ass."

* * *

After taking a shower, Fisk got dressed and went down to meet his attorneys, a short Caucasian, Nicholas Lee and a tall middle-aged Afro-American, Benjamin Donovan, alongside with Maki Matsumoto.

"Did you reach her?" Fisk asked.

"I need these cameras shut off and a moment with my client." Donovan requested.

"Forget about the cameras." Fisk ordered. "Is Vanessa safe?"

"We don't know. She's missing." Donovan admitted, to Fisk's disappointment.

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

Foggy, unable to sleep, woke up, while his girlfriend Marci tried to comfort him. As he got up to take some medication, he looked at his phone to see some news and one particular article made him panic. "WILSON FISK OUT"

"No, no, no!" Foggy panicked.

* * *

**_The next day_ **

"Lock Fisk up!" The crowd outside the hotel where Fisk had been transported to, ranted as Matt was at the entrance blended in with the crowd.

"This doesn't make any sense." Matt wondered why was Fisk in a luxurious hotel instead of in prison, when he was in federal custody.

"Of course it does. God is angry with you." Fisk said from behind Matt as his blood ran cold. Although he knew that Wilson Fisk behind him wasn't real, just a figment of his imagination.

"What are you talking about?" Matt questioned.

"You don't think God knows you were willing to die?" Fisk taunted.

"No, that has nothing to do with this." Matt said.

"God brought you back with the woman you love and you saved your friend… just in time, so that you could hear my name chanted by the crowds. Just in time to learn that in the long run I won. You lost. Does that sound like God's forgiveness?" Fisk challenged.

"No. It sounds like… Hell." Matt admitted as he continued listening to the crowd's ranting.

"You'll never keep Karen safe. In the end, you'll kill her too." Fisk said.

"Stop it." Matt snapped.

"Just like your father." Fisk continued. "And Stick."

"I said, stop." Matt ordered.

"They all died because of you, Matthew. And Elektra, she died and returned back, only to hurt you and your friends again. Just like Maki. Just like Ikari." Fisk said before Matt walked away.

* * *

"I can't believe it, this is insane." Karen said as she faced one of the officers guarding the hotel.

"You're the reporter."

"Sorry. Karen Page.  _Bulletin_." She showed her badge before looking around. "Sorry. Who's in charge here?"

The officer pointed to the agent behind her, who was talking over the phone. "That's the genius, who got him out, agent Nadeem."

"Thanks." Karen approached Ray. "Agent Nadeem."

Ray pointed his finger at her, ordering her to wait a moment. "Soon as I'm done here, there's a vigil at the hospital. Just give Sami a hug for me, thank you." He hung up before facing Karen as she showed her badge.

"Hi. Karen Page of  _New York Bulletin_."

Ray nodded in understanding. "I'm not authorized to speak to the press, you need to find Special Agent in Charge Hattley."

"But it is N-A-D-E-E-M, right?" Karen asked. "And you're the agent, who released Wilson Fisk?"

"Fisk has not been released, that's fake news." Ray corrected. Karen laughed softly at how ridiculous the statement was. "He's a cooperating witness but he's very much a convicted prisoner and he's being treated as such."

"Being treated in a twenty-million dollar penthouse?" Karen snorted.

"Seized by the U.S. government from some Wall Street prick convicted of fraud." Ray clarified.

"Oh, oh, I get it. OK, so what's he having for dinner? Is it filet mignon or the line-caught halibut?" Karen asked mockingly.

"Press area's over there." Ray said before walking away, not wanting to waste more time talking with Karen.

"One RICO count carries a 20-year sentence." Karen said. "Fisk was convicted on five, want to explain how is this justice?"

Ray took a breath before nearing her, listing all the agents that died the previous night, while transporting Fisk. "Jennings. Garcia. Foster. Leighton. Torres. They lost their lives and they were good agents. Good people. Write about that, Miss Page."

* * *

Matt walked around the hotel before he saw the maintenance staff nearing the side door and listened to the worker typing in the code into the keypad as he listened to the beeping, memorizing the code. "9-1-7-4." Matt entered the van, while it was empty and took off his glasses and disguised himself as maintenance worker, taking a luggage of tools before entering the hotel. He walked down the hallway before an employee on a ladder fixing the lights called him out.

"Oh, hey, man, hand me one of those BNCs, would you?"

Matt handed him a tool before leaving as he took off the jacket of a maintenance worker and picked a pamphlet, pretending to read as one of the agents passed by him as Matt eavesdropped to the radio communication.

" _Watch rotation. Sound off. North entrance is green. West entrance is green. Service area is green. Lobby is green._ "

"So you're inside, now what?" Fisk taunted as Matt walked down the hotel.

"Why would they let you out?" Matt wondered.

"Does it matter? The real question is, when you find me, what are you prepared to do?" Fisk challenged.

"See, if the FBI is protecting you, that means you cut a deal." Matt pointed out.

"With everything I know about crime in this city, the FBI will be eating out of my hand." Fisk said.

"You'll manipulate them." Matt argued.

"You don't know that." Fisk retorted.

"I know you." Matt scoffed.

"Maybe prison has changed me." Fisk laughed as Matt laughed sarcastically. "Maybe right this moment I'm giving the FBI information that will save lives, while you're here doing what? Whatever this is. Wouldn't that be something?" Matt walked upstairs, trying not to let Fisk's taunting get to him. "If I became more valuable to this city than you ever were."

* * *

**_Chikara Dojo_ **

Colleen read over the parchments Danny had received from Orson as it glowed in her hands, just as much as in Danny's.

"This whole time, I thought it was my destiny. But it was yours. You're the true Iron Fist, Colleen." Danny said as Colleen had tears in her eyes.

"This whole time, I thought that the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay was just a child's story." Colleen put the parchments down.

"It's not the first time someone tried to steal the Iron Fist. You defeated Davos." Danny pointed out. "The path I thought I was walking by… it's yours."

Colleen sighed, trying to process the news. "And what about you?"

"I didn't know what I was fighting for before… but now I do." Danny said as his fists glowed. "For such a long time I felt lost… but now I know where I belong. Here. With my family."

"Wait, I thought there could be only one Iron Fist per generation." Ward pointed out.

"It's not about the dragon only. It's about your spirit." Danny said. "The chi… it flows through all of us."

* * *

_**Presidential Hotel** _

Matt entered the café, ordering a coffee and listening to conversations around him, trying to get any clues.

"It's got the best view." Fisk said.

Matt sighed. "You should be rotting in a cell."

"So you're gonna bring me back to prison?" Fisk taunted. "But you know that won't work. There's only one way to stop me but you're not gonna do it."

"Are you sure about that?" Matt challenged.

"In a way, you're my accomplice, everything that's happened since you refused to kill me, is on you." Fisk said. "The bodies that I've stacked up. The ones to come. I wonder who's next?"

"You have the routing number." Donovan said as he passed by Matt, talking over the phone. "Two million, in Euros. No. Today. My client is not a patient man."

"You can follow him right to me. You know you want to." Fisk said.

Matt followed Donovan until Dex stepped up. "May I see your room key, sir?"

"Yeah, I got it." Matt said as he tapped his pocket.

"No, I need to see it." Dex insisted.

"Yeah, sure." Matt said, checking his pockets.

"You can take him. Grab his gun." Fisk taunted Matt. "Come for me. I'm caged up. Unarmed."

"Sir." Dex asked.

"They gave me like three of them." Matt said as he kept searching in his pockets until Dex slowly neared his hand towards his gun, ready to engage Matt.

"But you won't. You can't kill me. You can't even kill yourself." Fisk said.

"You know what? I must have left it in my car." Matt told Dex.

"Then I'm afraid I can't let you through." Dex said.

"Sure. I'll be right back." Matt walked away as Dex looked at Matt with suspicion.

* * *

**_Chikara Dojo_ **

"Are you OK, Colleen?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, it's just… a lot to process." Colleen said, tears in her eyes as she watched outside the window. "I never asked for this responsibility, Danny."

"Yeah. I get that. But together we can work through…" Danny paused as he and Colleen looked at the rooftop opposite to the dojo. "What the…"

"Move!" Colleen yelled, tackling Danny down as the window and the walls exploded.

And then, towards them approached vans with masked men and clothes with military colors, being led by a man with a shattered skull mask and short hair.

"This is gonna be fun." The man with the shattered skull mask said.

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Fisk had a tray with his dinner on the table as he stared at it, while Dex was watching over him with crossed arms.

"It's Special Agent Poindexter, isn't it? You saved my life last night." Fisk said as Dex ignored him.

"Yeah, we all make mistakes." Dex said.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your fellow agents." Fisk told him with remorse. "Losing them to protect someone like me must be particularly difficult for the families and the loved ones. I'd offer my condolences but I imagine it brings them greater comfort to hate me… unless you feel otherwise. That my words might bring any positive effect. If so, please, share that, from what I witnessed, they were incredibly brave."

"Might wanna eat faster, convict, the meal's over in five." Dex said, ignoring him.

"I owe those fallen agents a debt I can never repay." Fisk said. "But… I also owe you." Dex turned his attention to him. "I've known extraordinary people but I've never seen a talent like yours. May I ask you, where you acquired such a skill?"

"OK, you're done." Dex ran out of patience as he picked Fisk's tray with dinner and left the apartment before going to psych eval with Dr. Myman.

* * *

Donovan entered his car in the car park as he sat at the driver's seat before Matt in his vigilante outfit wrapped a garotte around Donovan's throat as he choked out and turned off the light in the car.

"Why did Fisk flip on the Albanians?" Matt demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about, you've got the wrong person…" Matt tightened the garotte. "Fisk hated prison! The FBI got him out."

"No. No. He could've turned on everyone, why the Albanians?" Matt asked.

"I'm just a lawyer." Donovan protested.

"What is Fisk really getting out of this, is it the Albanians' territory?" Matt asked.

"No."

"Is it money?"

"No."

"Alright. Why don't you let me know, when you wanna breathe?" Matt tightened the garotte and Donovan groaned in pain.

"Fisk's woman, the Feds will drop all charges against her." Donovan explained.

"No." Matt said, not believing him.

"I swear! He's doing it all for her." Donovan said and after listening to his heartbeat, Matt realized he was telling the truth.

"And where is Vanessa?" Matt asked before he heard footsteps and voices in the distance. Matt let Donovan go and left the car as Donovan screamed for help.

"Help! Help!"

"Over there! Let's go!" One of the agents said as Matt ran between the cars, crouched and hid behind a pillar.

"There's an unidentified assailant in the parking deck, consider him armed and dangerous." The agents searched the garage as one of them was near the pillar behind which Matt was hiding before Matt knocked him out.

"Anyone got a visual on him?"

"Nothing yet. Moving to the south side of the garage."

Matt hid behind a pillar and quickly snuck next to another car as the agents were searching for him. Matt neared one of the agents and slammed his face to a nearby wall before hiding behind a pillar as another agent searched for the source of the noise. After leaving, Matt knocked out the agent he had capture.

Matt was about to leave towards the exit before he heard more agents.

"We're in stairwell H, heading down to Parking Level 3."

"We need backup on Parking Level 3. Repeat, we need backup on Parking Level 3."

Matt hid behind another pillar and was about to run before he faced an agent, who aimed his gun at him.

"Stop! FBI!" Matt raised his hands. "They have families, asshole."

"Listen, I'm not here to…" Matt suddenly grabbed his gun but the agent slammed him to a hood of a car and they both struggled before more agents arrived.

"There he is! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Matt took cover as the agents opened fire on him.

"Come out with your hands up. Now."

Matt rushed at the agents from behind, grabbing the gun of the agent behind him and he dodged the gunshot of another agent before he knocked the two agents down. He threw the gun at the face of the agent, who just shot at him and grabbed his arm, twisting it as the agent screamed in pain. Another agent tackled Matt to the ground and Matt blocked his punch before slamming his face to the hood of the car next to them. Matt kicked the agent back and dodged as another agent attempted to lunge at him. Matt punched the agent lying next to him and kicked another one in the legs, causing for him to fall down before Matt kicked him in the face. An agent next to Matt grabbed him by his shoulder as they both got up on their feet and punched him in the stomach. Matt hit him in the face, knocking him down. "Stay down, man." Matt warned. The agent got up and threw a punch but Matt blocked and punched him in the face, knocking him out as Matt panted out in exhaustion. Another agent grabbed Matt's leg as Matt panted out.

"That's it. Let the Devil out." Fisk urged. Matt picked the agent up and punched him in the face before knocking him down and pummeled him before Matt breathed out heavily in exhaustion and anger. "Felt good, didn't it? Too bad you still can't get at me, not with the FBI protecting me. I'm going to kill everyone you love and there's nothing you can do about it."

Matt got up, realizing what he had just done, beating up federal agents, who were just doing their jobs.

* * *

Matt entered the apartment, where Elektra was looking at him with a glare. "What were you thinking, trying to get to Fisk?"

"You're telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing?" Matt scoffed.

"I at least wouldn't have been so reckless." Elektra snapped.

"I can't believe the Feds are so naïve to believe he has changed." Matt muttered.

"Even if he hasn't, what are you going to do about it?" Elektra asked.

"I'll stop him. For good this time." Matt said.

* * *

_**New York** _

Dex was stalking Julie Barnes, his former colleague as he imitated her daily life routines by eating Julie's favorite pizza.

* * *

Foggy, deeply depressed, was walking down the street before he was nudged by a passerby.

"Watch it."

"Sorry." The passerby said. Unknowing to him, it was Matt, who had just pickpocketed him and stole his wallet, preparing his next step.

* * *

_**Presidential Hotel** _

"Was it him?" Fisk asked as Donovan filled him in.

"He took out six Feds. He wasn't in a red suit but yeah, it was him." Donovan said.

Fisk faced the window as Maki approached him. "My contacts have returned. They reached out to him and broke him out and struck, just as you requested."

Fisk smiled. "So, the Devil is back."

Maki handed him the phone as the male voice on the other side spoke up. " _I did what you wanted. They're still alive, though._ "

"I don't want them dead. I want them to suffer."

" _Of course. That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to teach them what is pain, just as my best friend taught me._ "

"Revenge is best served with patience, Mr. Russo. And find Walker too." Fisk said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Billy Russo is back too and he's the one who attacked Danny and Colleen. How he escaped from custody will be explained later and he remembers everything. And Mary Walker will return too. Didn't see that coming, did you? Frank and Madani will be showing up soon too.
> 
> Before you start arguing, let's just say that Season 2 of Punisher will still happen, as far as Amy and Pilgrim and the Schultzes are concerned but the plot with amnesiac Billy did not happen, since I have my own plans for him here.
> 
> Hope you'll like how will I do things here this time around.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	4. Prison Brawl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt investigates clues about Fisk in Ryker's Island as Madani faces bad news, causing her to make a desperate move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Danny and Colleen were treated by the doctors in the hospital as Misty approached them. They had just bruises and scratches but no severe injuries, luckily.

"What happened?" Misty asked. "Are you guys OK?"

"Someone blew up the dojo." Danny said. "They were trained. Military-grade weapons. And dangerous."

"I had to punch the rubble their way to get me and Danny to safety." Colleen nodded.

"I'm surprised they didn't come after us." Danny wondered.

"I don't think they tried to kill us." Colleen deduced. "It was more like a warning shot."

"You think it was Maki?" Danny asked.

"No." Colleen shook her head. "The Hand would be subtler than this. Guns and grenade launchers aren't their style."

"Then who did this?" Danny wondered.

"I'll see if the CSIs can get anything useful, I'll call you if I have any leads." Misty promised. "In the meantime, you might want to watch your backs."

"No kidding." Colleen nodded.

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

Matt returned to his apartment and luckily, Karen hasn't gotten rid of his suits, so he put one of them on, a white shirt, black pants and a blazer with a black tie as he looked like a lawyer once again.

Matt then went out on a street and whistled before a cab stopped and Matt entered.

"Oh, these mornings are getting colder and colder. Piece of crap can't keep up for nothing. Where are we off too, boss?" The driver asked.

* * *

"This good?" The driver asked as Matt found Foggy's card in the wallet.

"Yeah, here's fine." Matt said.

"Hey, you paying with a card? 'Cause you know, cash is better." The driver asked before Matt handed him a lot of dollar bills.

"Wait for me." Matt ordered as the driver picked the bills, realizing what Matt wanted.

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."

Matt went out from the cab as he approached Ryker's Island penitentiary. The guards let him in as Matt approached the reception.

"Hi. Good morning." Matt said.

"Purpose for your visit?" The guard asked.

"I have an appointment with my client. I called earlier, I should be on the visitor list." Matt said.

"ID." The guard requested.

Matt checked his pockets, pretending to search for the ID before trying to look confused. "I can't find my wallet. Did I leave it at home or drop it in the cab…"

"Without picture ID, I can't…"

"Just give me one second." Matt interrupted the guard.

"Sir, please, step aside, while…"

"This is my New York bar number." Matt showed the guard another card. "Now, it's not a picture ID, I know but it did take me seven years and cost me $300,000 in student loans. Does it, uh, buy me anything?"

The guard checked the number in the notepad before turning to Matt for checking. "Name."

"Nelson. Franklin Nelson." Matt said.

* * *

Later, Matt waited in the visitor's area as the inmate he had wanted to meet, entered.

"Matt. I thought Foggy…"

"What's up, Michael?" Matt greeted the inmate.

"Oh, man, it's good to see you, even if it's in this shithole." Michael hugged Matt before they both sat down.

"I'm sure you're wondering…"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said "shithole."" Michael apologized. "I'm trying not to curse. What's the point of getting me out of here in eighteen months with a degree in psychology, top of the class, if I still swear like a goddamned sailor?"

Matt patted Michael on his shoulder before he heard Michael curse again. "Oh. Did it again."

"Well, sorry." Michael raised his hand as Matt laughed. "Saint Matthew."

"No, come on, I'm no saint." Matt told him.

"You and Foggy got sixteen years knocked off my sentence. If that's not divine intervention, huh?" Michael then looked around. "Where's Foggy? I've never seen you two apart."

"We're not… we're not working together anymore." Matt admitted.

"Oh, man, that sucks." Michael felt some sympathy for Matt.

"Yeah." Matt nodded. "Listen, I don't want anyone, even Foggy, to know that I was here, so…"

"Yeah, I can do that." Michael nodded.

"Appreciate it." Matt said.

"So, what's the big mystery?" Michael asked.

"Yeah. So, look, you… um… worked with the Albanians, right?" Matt inquired.

"Uh, a long time ago. Low-level stuff, mostly just running." Michael remembered.

Matt nodded. "Mm-hmm. But they're offering you protection in here?"

Michael chuckled. "What do you want with the Albanians?"

"I want an introduction." Matt requested.

"If somebody needs a defense lawyer, I'll make sure to pass your name along. Glowing review. But, you know, folks in here, they're murdering bastards." Michael looked around, looking at other inmates briefly.

"I want an introduction to Vic Jusufi." Matt said and Michael straightened himself, Matt's request shocking him.

"Nobody gets in with Vic." Michael warned.

"You can't make it happen?" Matt inquired before Michael looked around fearfully and Matt used his senses to make sure they were not being watched.

"What do you want with him anyway?" Michael asked as he turned to Matt.

"Wilson Fisk could've turned on any criminal organization." Matt said softly in low tone. "I want to know why the Albanians. What did they have on Fisk?"

Michael looked around again nervously as Matt noticed how agitated he was due to his fast heartbeat. "Just… uh… let this go."

"No, I can't do that. Fisk stays out, innocent people die." Matt insisted.

"I don't know shit." Michael denied.

"Michael. You can help me."

"No."

"Come on."

Michael scoffed. "You're gonna get me killed." He clenched his fists under the table as Matt heard bones crack. Michael got up from the table and hit Matt in the face before the guards held him back. "Get this guy away from me, I don't know him! Get him away!" The guards dragged Michael away before he turned to another inmate, who apparently was in the prison as Fisk's eyes and ears. "I said nothing. On my mother! My mother!"

"Sir?" A guard asked Matt.

"Uh, it's alright, just a misunderstanding." Matt waved his hand calmly.

"Mr. Nelson, you need to get checked out by the nurse."

"It's fine, I'm fine." Matt tried to brush the guard off.

"Then you can say that on the incident report." The guard insisted. "Liability reasons. Can't let you leave until you sign one."

"Yeah, alright." Matt gave in as the inmates were watching him.

"Follow me." The guard ordered.

* * *

**_FBI_ **

Barney dialed a number before the call was answered.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey, Clint. It's Barney." Barney said.

" _Barney? Gosh, I haven't heard from you in months. How are you, big bro?_ " Clint asked.

"It's shitstorm here." Barney sighed. "I gotta keep an eye on that son of a bitch, Wilson Fisk and we've been busting our ass taking in the Albanians. Honestly, it's still better than having to deal with aliens or robots."

" _Look, you know that some things you can't walk away from._ " Clint pointed out.

Barney sighed in frustration. "I know. It's just been…"

" _Yeah, I get that._ "

"How's the parole going?" Barney asked. "I wanted to check in on you soon."

" _Things are fine here. But little Nathaniel is one hell of a rascal, he's giving me and Laura hell._ " Clint said.

"Kids usually do. I promise, I'll visit you all on dinner soon. Give Laura a hug from me and tell Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel that Uncle Barney loves them."

" _I will, Barney. Good luck in New York. I gotta warn you, it's one hell of a city._ " Clint promised. " _Watch out, brother._ "

"You too, Clint. Don't stay too far away from home. From what I've heard, Lang's been trouble during his house arrest, despite not leaving his place." Barney said before he hung up.

* * *

**_Ryker's Island_ **

Matt was being accompanied by the guards into the infirmary as the inmates were facing a wall, while their cells were being checked. Matt felt uncomfortable passing by the corridor with the inmate cells before the guard opened the door to the infirmary.

"Wait here." The guard ordered. "Nurse should be by."

"Thanks." Matt said.

* * *

**_New York Bulletin_ **

Karen was in her office, working at her computer and talking over the phone before Foggy entered.

"No, only somebody who works at the FDIC can help me. You will. Thank you so much. No… yeah, tomorrow is perfect." Foggy closed the door and approached Karen nervously as she hung up. "I think I figured out how Fisk has been skirting the FBI asset freeze."

"When's the last time you slept?" Foggy asked.

"So, he's been funneling his money through Vancorp, which is the shell corporation that owns the hotel and he's been keeping it in offshore firm named " _Red Lion National Bank_ "."

"Karen." Foggy attempted to interrupt her.

"That's the smoking gun. If it's not smoking, it's at least kind of warming."

"I didn't come to talk about Fisk." Foggy interrupted her.

"What?" Karen asked, not liking where Foggy was going. "It's Matt?" She covered her mouth, her worst fears coming up.

"I promised I would never lie for Matt again. Not to you." Foggy said and Karen was slowly freaking out.

"No, you have to just…" Karen took a breath, attempting to calm down. "You need to just tell me." Then she saw the expression in Foggy's face and then it hit her. "Matt's alive."

* * *

**_Later, Matt's apartment_ **

"Matt!" Karen yelled furiously as she burst in. "Matt, where the hell are you?!"

"He's not here, I called." Foggy explained as Karen was checking the apartment. "Even asked Fran down the hall if she saw anyone poking around. She would know. She pokes."

"Why?" Karen whirled on Foggy. "Why would he let us think he was dead?! He's been back for a month!" She said angrily.

"It wasn't Matt that I saw, Karen. I mean, not really. It was Matt. All five feet, ten inches of him but… the way that he spoke to me… something was missing." Foggy pointed out.

"Well, that's nothing new, there's always something missing with Matt. I used to think that it was… it was busy lawyer, distracted Matt. Then I thought it was weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders Matt. But you know what? It's just Matt." Karen sat down, sighing in frustration as she dropped her purse on the floor.

"But it wasn't any of those." Foggy said. "I think… a part of him was buried under Midland Circle. I don't know if he's coming back. From what I heard in Chinatown… it was like he was more buried into… you know. Rather than seeing us."

Karen sighed, frustrated and angry. "So much for him promising he'd stop lying to us. Letting us think he was dead."

"A whopper." Foggy nodded.

Karen sighed again, looking sad and disappointed. "I think Matt's made his choice." She turned to Foggy. "It doesn't leave any room for either of us."

"No." Foggy said. "I guess it doesn't."

"Well, I am not going to sit here and wait for Matt to come to his senses." Karen snapped as she got up, picking up her purse. "Fisk is out and he has to be stopped."

She was about to leave the apartment before Foggy spoke up, causing for Karen to stop at the door.

"Fran was wrong. I guess she didn't poke hard enough."

They turned to the shelf on which were Matt's sunglasses, just recently put there.

* * *

_**Ryker's Island** _

The door buzzed as Matt straightened himself in the infirmary. "Sorry you had to wait." The doctor said. He held Matt's chin and checked his face for any injuries or dislocations. "But good news. It's not dislocated."

"Great. So I can go?" Matt asked.

"Almost done." The doctor picked some papers and a pen. "Honestly, this paperwork is a waste of time. It just ends up in a file somewhere." He laughed softly. "I am going to check your pupils to make sure you're not concussed. I am now going to check your pupils to make sure you're not concussed. Just look up for a minute." Matt realized that this would blow his cover, if the doctor would notice that Matt was blind before he held the doctor's arm in which he had the flashlight.

"No, just… give me the paperwork, please."

"OK. Let's get you out of here." The doctor put the flashlight back. "I forgot to mention, if you come down with any headaches the next couple of days, make sure that you…"

Suddenly, Matt noticed that the camera in the infirmary was turning to him and the doctor suddenly tried to attack Matt with a syringe. The needle managed to pierce Matt's skin on the palm of his hand as Matt tried to stop the doctor. Matt headbutted the doctor and hit him with his elbow in the doctor's face as the doctor fell back and hit the chair, knocked out.

Matt gasped in pain as he pulled the syringe out. Matt attempted to leave but the door would not budge, no matter how hard Matt tried.

"Come on! God damn it!"

Matt tried to find a way out through the window as he checked the window grille before the phone in the infirmary started to ring. Matt slowly approached the phone and picked it up and his blood ran cold as he heard the voice.

" _You're not Franklin Nelson._ "

"Fisk." Matt said, his face twitching in anger.

" _It's quite something to see. For a blind man, you have very impressive reflexes, Mr. Murdock._ " Fisk said.

Matt then realized that Fisk was watching him through the camera in the infirmary as he turned to face it. "What was I injected with?"

" _Do you remember the last time that we spoke? You said that for the cost of postage, you could prevent my reunion with the only person that gives my life meaning. The only person that I love. And I would've let bygones be bygones._ " Matt's hands trembled due to the drug as he held the receiver to his ear. " _But you didn't just threaten me. You threatened Vanessa and that is something that I cannot forgive._ "

"Listen to me very carefully…" Before Matt could say more, Fisk hung up and Matt put the receiver back before he noticed that the door was unlocked. Matt went out from the infirmary before inmates surrounded him.

One of them rushed at Matt but Matt punched him and slammed his face to the wall. Matt dodged the punch of another inmate attacking him before hitting the one next to him.

Matt grabbed the arm of the inmate in front of him and threw him down before punching him in the face. From around the corner, the inmate Matt had stunned, grabbed Matt from behind and pinned him to the wall and punched him in the face.

Another inmate grabbed Matt before Matt stepped on the foot of one of them and punched him in the face. The other inmate slugged Matt but Matt threw him down on the floor as he fell down too. Matt then hit him in the face, knocking him out.

Matt and the other inmate staggered on their feet before the inmate punched Matt in the face and kicked him in the stomach with his knee. The inmate threw Matt against a wall and hit Matt in the face.

Suddenly, from above in the vents jumped down Elektra, throwing the inmate down before breaking his arm. She then jumped at another inmate and wrapped her legs around him and spun around, snapping his neck before Matt jumped at the third inmate, hitting him in the face, knocking him out.

Matt then got up on his feet before he turned to Elektra, who was wearing a red scarf around her mouth and black top and pants with sheathed sais. "What are you…"

"I suspected you might do something brash." Elektra said. "We need to leave here, now."

"Not yet." Matt said before one of the inmates tackled Matt but Matt headbutted him and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

Matt and Elektra were about to leave before the guards showed up.

"On the ground!"

"Hold on, I was attacked." Matt raised his hands as Elektra hid in the shadows.

"Get on the ground, now!" The guards ordered.

"I was attacked, I need help."

"Put your hands behind your head!"

"OK."

"Alright we got him, we'll take care of him."

Suddenly, Matt and Elektra realized that the guards were in Fisk's pocket as they picked their nightsticks. Matt grabbed one of the guards by his arm and slammed him to a wall but the guard managed to throw him down and Matt felt weak because of the drug he had been injected with. Elektra blocked the stick of the other guard with her sai and punched him in the face as the protective glass of his helmet shattered. Elektra hit the guard in the throat as he choked out before she knocked him out.

Matt fell down before he kicked the guard in the stomach, causing for him to fall down. Matt then grabbed his nightstick and started to bash the guard's head before they heard inmates shouting.

"Hey, nice job, homes, grab his keys, quick."

An alarm blared in the prison, overloading Matt's hearing with the loud noise and the inmates ranting and P.A. announcement as Matt panted out

" _Code 33. Lockdown is now in effect._ "

Matt panted out as one of the inmates behind him threw a Molotov cocktail outside. Matt and Elektra went down the corridor before one of the inmates grabbed Matt and attempted to bring him into a supply room but Elektra kicked the inmate back. The inmate staggered into the supply room before he got up.

"Fisk betrays you! He will turn on you! Fisk will turn on you too!" Matt exclaimed as the inmate pulled out a shiv.

"Who are you and why does Fisk want you dead?" A bald tattooed inmate asked before he said something in a foreign language and Matt and Elektra recognized the language.

"Hey. Wait. What is that, Albanian? Are you Vic?" Matt inquired.

"You are an idiot coming here." Vic said. "Fisk still controls half the guards and prisoners."

"Yeah but not the Albanians. Not since Fisk ratted your people out to the FBI." Matt pointed out.

Vic ordered his colleague to stand down. "What's it to you?"

"Fisk hates me as much as he hates you people." Matt said. "I helped him get locked up. And I'm gonna do it again."

"Nah, I think you're both gonna die in here." Vic said.

"That remains to be seen." Elektra was about to kill Vic.

"Wait. Wait. Why did Fisk flip on your people?" Matt breathed out.

"It doesn't matter." Vic said.

"It matters enough that you're desperate to kill him. You missed him in here and you tried again on the outside." Matt said.

"That is a  _very_  serious allegation." Vic said. "And wrong. We never tried to hit him. In here."

"Fisk was shanked in the weight room." Matt reminded.

"Not by us." Vic denied.

"If not you, who did it?" Elektra inquired.

Vic did not answer as Elektra was about to cut him into pieces but Matt tried a more diplomatic solution.

"Listen, if we succeed, Fisk ends up right back here with you and your men. And after that, you can do with him whatever you please." Matt proposed.

Vic considered for a moment before he spoke up. "Fisk shanked Fisk. He bribed some lifer to stab him."

"He set the whole thing up?" Matt realized.

"The guy sliced him up just good enough to convince the Feds." Vic elaborated.

"Of course." Matt breathed out, wondering why it did not occur to him earlier. "This guy, he's a lifer?"

"Is he still here in prison? If Fisk bribed him, he must be still alive." Elektra asked.

"Better than alive. Free." Vic said.

"Free?" Matt chuckled.

"Shouldn't he be in a solitary confinement?" Elektra asked, not understanding.

"Fisk got someone cook the books and let him out." Vic explained.

"OK, there are guards coming. Give us the lifer's name. He's the only proof we have that Fisk set this whole thing up." Matt said.

"So what?" Vic asked.

"So, if I can get to him, I can…"

"You can barely get to your feet."

"Vic, please…" Matt insisted.

"Trust us. We're more capable than it seems." Elektra pleaded.

"You took a shot at Fisk and you missed. We won't. Not if you can get us out of here." Matt promised.

Vic considered for a moment before giving instructions to his henchman in Albanian. The inmate dressed up as a guard as he took the clothes off one of the knocked out guards.

"Blood was lost during the motorcade attack. My baby cousin's blood." Vic said. "Find the inmate, who shanked Fisk. Make good on your word. Or we'll come find you."

"His name?" Matt inquired.

"Jasper Evans." Vic told him as Matt leaned onto the inmate disguised as a guard. "Get him out of here.

"Wait, hold on a second. There's two guards." Matt said as they waited for a moment. "OK, now."

Vic opened the door as the inmate accompanied Matt and Elektra out. "This way." Matt said as he pointed to the opposite direction.

"There's an exit this way." The inmate said.

"There are two guards, trust me, please." Matt insisted as they went the opposite direction before Matt pointed to the barred door. "We need to go through this door on the left. Here."

"It's locked." The inmate said as there were other prisoners brawling with other guards in the corridor.

"There's a key in your top left pocket." Matt said as the inmate checked his pockets before he found the keys and unlocked the door. "Hurry."

"There he is! Move! Now! Get him! Go!" One of the guards yelled as he saw Matt and Elektra. The inmate let Elektra and Matt through the door before he forced the door back in before the guards could get to them as he locked the door. The inmate then unlocked the door to another corridor.

"The other way." Matt instructed as he leaned onto the inmate. "Slow down. Thank you."

They entered another section as other inmates attacked the Albanian but Matt hit one of them in the face before one of the guards tackled the inmate as a table behind him crashed. The Albanian unlocked another door as the inmates and guards were fighting each other as they were trying to avoid more fights.

"I'll see you outside." Elektra snuck into the vents to avoid the guards as the Albanian accompanied Matt to the guards.

"I got a civilian here! Get him out!" Matt leaned onto the guards as they accompanied him outside, while fending off other inmates. "Go! Go!"

"Open the gate! Open the gate! Open the gate!" The guard yelled as Matt left the prison and returned to the cab.

"Drive! Drive!" Matt panted out in exhaustion as he entered the cab and passed out due to effects of the drug.

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

"Everything OK, Ray?" Barney asked as Ray finished talking to Dex.

"I'm worried about Dex, you know?" Ray said. "But… while there was something off… I still have my wife and son."

* * *

As Matt came to, he realized it was late at night as he was still in the cab. "Hey, wait, hold on. Stop the car."

"No problem. We'll get you home."

Matt suddenly realized that this was not the same driver who had driven him to Ryker's Island as his voice and heartbeat were different.

"Who are you?" The driver suddenly jumped out from the car, much to Matt's horror. "Hey! Hey!" Then he realized the cab was driving towards the river as Matt panicked.

"No! No! No! No! No!"

"Matthew!" Elektra yelled as she jumped on the roof but then the cab drove off the dock into the river.

* * *

**_Metro General Hospital_ **

Dinah Madani approached the two guards, about to interrogate Billy Russo, who was wearing a shattered skull mask and lying in his bed, restrained, as she entered. Russo seemed to be sleeping peacefully before Madani noticed something different and she took off the mask to realize that this was not Billy Russo.

Madani's blood boiled as she turned to the two guards, looking angry.

* * *

"How did Russo escape?" Director Hernandez, Madani's boss asked.

"They said that some ninjas broke him out and forced them to keep quiet about it as long as possible, otherwise they'd kill them." Madani explained.

"Ninjas?" Hernandez repeated, not believing what was Madani saying.

"And apparently, it's not the first time the ninjas attacked this hospital and they covered it up." Madani explained.

"Damn it. What are we going to do?" Hernandez considered.

"The only thing we can." Madani said and Hernandez's eyes widened, realizing what was Madani planning.

"No. No way. Not a chance, Dinah." Hernandez said.

"What do you want me to do, Rafi?" Madani snapped before Hernandez sighed, realizing he had no other choice.

"Last I checked, he was seen in Michigan."

"Get me a chopper." Madani said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you know what is Madani going to do now.
> 
> And if you haven't figured it out before, the character is Barney Barton, Clint's older brother from comic books. In comic books, he was an FBI agent too and he worked with the Avengers for a while too but then he almost died and Baron Zemo turned him against Clint. Barney was then trained by Buck Chisholm, who was dying from cancer, and who also trained Clint in archery, to become a villain named Trickshot. Clint and Barney were at odds as Zemo convinced Barney that Clint had left him to die until Barney eventually came to his senses and made amends with his brother. This all takes place before Avengers: Endgame and I plan on seeing it either on tomorrow or this weekend with my brother, finally! Don't spoil me since I'm too hyped.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	5. Cornered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The FBI draws nearer to Matt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A wedding was occurring, with everyone celebrating the bride and groom becoming newlyweds. That was until a group of mercenaries entered, with guns, shooting down everyone on sight as people scattered in panic. Blood spattered, glass shattered, tables were turned over as debris flied around.

* * *

The mercenaries were later in a hideout, drinking and toasting.

"This was a clean, easy job."

"They didn't even see us coming."

Suddenly, the lights turned off.

"Damn it, I think the fuses must have…"

Suddenly, gunshots rang out as they felt blood spatter on their clothes and faces.

"Who the hell…"

"Son of a…"

They drew guns and fired into the air before one of them snapped. "Stop shooting! We'll just be hitting each other in that dark!"

And then, with a roar, a tall man with a black leather jacket and a skull painted on his chest plate on his armor burst in with a machine gun and started shooting the mercenaries down as blood spattered.

One of the mercenaries, in an attempt to avoid gunfire, fell down on the floor as he heard blood spatter, screams of pain and thuds of bodies falling down. The mercenary waited for a few moments until he was sure that the assailant left before he checked his pocket.

"Lighter. Lighter."

The mercenary lit up the lighter before he realized that in front of him was standing a tall muscular man with short dark hair and the man grabbed the mercenary by his throat and lifted him up. Frank roared as he squeezed, while the mercenary choked out, struggling for breath before there was a loud 'crack' and the mercenary's body went limp as Frank dropped his lifeless body on the floor.

* * *

Frank was in a hideout, cleaning up the blood from his clothes before a phone rang as he answered the call.

"Hello? What do you want, Madani?" Frank asked annoyed, when suddenly, he shot up from the chair, furious. "What?! When?!" As Madani told him the news, Frank roared furiously as he smashed his phone on the table. "You little shit. I should have killed you, when I had the chance. Fine. This time, I'm going to finish the job."

* * *

**_New York_ **

Karen was in a hotel in a bar, waiting before she saw an elderly man sitting at a table, reading newspapers before she approached him, holding her jacket in her arms. "Felix Manning?" The man turned his attention to Karen. "You haven't returned my calls." Manning smiled politely. "Karen Page. From the Bulletin. Before I go to print, I'm obligated to offer you a chance to comment on your involvement in laundering money for Wilson Fisk." She put her jacket down and sat across Manning. "Look, if you talk to me, off-the-record, help me connect some dots, I can promise that I will keep your name out of it. But that is  _only_  if you talk to me. You're a fixer, Mr. Manning. You're a freelancer. Other clients. A lot to lose. Once this story breaks, Fisk is gonna hang you out to dry. If I were you, I would start looking out for myself."

Manning smiled, enjoying how naïve Karen was. "Karen Page. Daughter of Paxton and Penelope. 239 Kings Road, Fagan Corners, Vermont." Karen's confident face quickly turned into one of shock and fear quickly as Manning seemed to have done his homework on her. "You had the back room. My guess, Dad wanted his little girl to be safe. Sadly, he should've been more worried about his little boy." Karen swallowed hard, realizing she made a mistake as she turned pale. "Drug addicts really do destroy families, don't they? Off the record, you're incorrect, about what I do for living. I don't fix problems. I make them disappear."

Karen took a shaky breath, realizing she was getting herself in over her head again.

* * *

Later, on the street, Karen noticed that she was being followed as she panicked as she slowly reached for a gun in her purse before an SUV neared her and men in suits approached her. "Karen Page?"

"Who are you?" Karen asked nervously.

"Don't move." The agent said as he held his gun on his belt and showed her his badge. "FBI."

"Uh… I have a weapon in my purse and a concealed carry permit." Karen said quickly as she showed her hands.

"Keep your hands exactly where they are and follow my instructions." The agent instructed. "Now turn around."

Karen did as the agent said as he picked the gun from her purse. "What do you want from me?" She breathed out.

* * *

**_Metro General_ **

Barney approached Danny and Colleen, who were signing off discharge papers as they turned to him.

"Can we help you?"

"Daniel Rand? Colleen Wing? FBI." Barney showed his badge.

* * *

"When was the last time either of you have seen Matthew Murdock?" Barney asked.

"Uh…" Danny and Colleen looked at each other nervously, wondering whether to tell him truth or not. "It's been…"

"Few months."

"Some witnesses claim that he did show up in Chinatown near your dojo, Miss Wing. Any chances you crossed paths with him recently?" Barney insisted.

"We…" Colleen took a breath. "Not really."

"I'm sorry but you won't mind if we ask what is this about? Why are you looking for Mr. Murdock?" Danny asked, trying to sound confused.

"He's a person of interest in an ongoing federal investigation, I am not at liberty to say more." Barney said. "We know that Karen Page, his former secretary, has been paying his bills for his apartment, despite that it hasn't been used in months and…" He then showed them a photo of Elektra as Danny and Colleen tensed. "Do you know this woman?"

"Not… really." Colleen said carefully.

Then Barney showed them a photo of Matt and Elektra in a gala event. "Are you certain you have not seen her before?"

"Doesn't seem familiar." Danny lied but Barney narrowed his eyes.

"Hmmm… OK." He then left his card on a desk. "We're done for now. If you remember anything or find out something new about Murdock, call me. And out of curiosity, what happened to your dojo? The explosion three nights ago?"

"Gas leak?" Colleen tried but it was obvious to everyone present that it was nonsense.

"Don't leave town. I might need to talk to you again soon." Barney warned before he left.

"What are we going to do? They're onto us." Danny whispered.

"We'll figure something out." Colleen said.

* * *

_**Presidential Hotel** _

Fisk finished reading files Donovan and Manning and Maki had gathered on Dex as a smile came across his face, while he finished how to get into Dex's head.

"The instability… we could use that. All it needs… is few pushes over the edge." Maki smiled.

"Find the women." Fisk instructed before Walker entered. "Well?"

"I did as you asked." Walker promised. "I think I can find few… capable people."

"Excellent." Fisk said, smiling. "It's time to proceed onto the next stage. And you'll be compensated, as I promised. I'm a man of my word, Walker."

* * *

Later, Dex was in the bar, contemplating before a waitress approached him. "Can I offer you something to drink?" Dex turned his head and he couldn't believe it. It was Julie Barnes, the woman he had been obsessed with since they worked together in suicide hotline. "Looks like you need a little more time. I'll grab you a water." Dex looked away from her, wondering what was going on. "This is gonna sound random but did you use to work at the Brooklyn Suicide Hotline?"

Dex turned to her, feigning ignorance as he nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I did. That… was a tough job."

"It was." Julie nodded. "You probably don't remember me. I'm Julie." She offered her hand.

"Dex." He shook his hand with her. "Of course I remember you."

"Small world, huh?" Julie smiled.

"I haven't seen you in here before." Dex said.

"It's my first day, actually." Julie admitted. "I got offered double the pay to leave my last job if I could start here immediately, not that I'm complaining. What about you, are you staying at the hotel?"

"No. I… I live here. In New York, not in the hotel." Dex stammered as both of them laughed. "The FBI has an office upstairs. We're guarding Wilson Fisk."

"A G-man." Julie quipped. Dex smiled before a guest called Julie over. "I need to go help that table, so that they don't fire me on my first day."

"What time do you get off?" Dex asked as she was about to leave him.

"In about an hour. Do you wanna hang out after?" Julie offered. "Catch up?"

"Uh, yeah. That… that'd be great." Dex said.

* * *

_**Nelson's Meats** _

"Just… being at Matt's apartment and his bloody clothes and I just… it threw me. Nadeem's smart. I probably gave him everything he needs to figure it out." Karen told Foggy, freaked out.

"Wait, you told the FBI that Matt is Daredevil?" Foggy asked incredulously.

"No, no. Of course not." Karen shook her head.

Foggy sighed. "They know he's hiding something. It's not what they think but this is bad. Really bad. Infinitely bad. We could all go to jail."

"Foggy…" Karen tried to interrupt him.

"I should've never let Matt tell you his secret in the first place, this is my fault. I'm not gonna let you pay for our shitty mistakes. If it comes down to it, I'll plead in exchange for your immunity."

"Foggy." Karen insisted with shaky breaths. "You always see the good in people. But you put us on such high pedestals, you can't see who we really are. And I didn't tell the FBI Matt is Daredevil. I did something worse."

"Karen, breathe." Foggy tried to calm her down.

"I'm in trouble." Karen said nervously.

"Tell me what happened." Foggy said.

"I'm gonna need attorney/client privilege before I can." Karen told him.

"OK, give me five bucks." Foggy said and Karen gave him a $5-bill from her wallet before he sat at the desk. "Good enough, I'm officially your lawyer."

"Do you remember the… the Healy trial? And there was that guy… from… from CGI, who offered us a stupid amount of money to take his case?" Karen said.

"Yeah, how could I forget that creep?" Foggy said.

"His name's James Wesley. He worked for Fisk. He disappeared shortly after that and they think that Matt had something to do with it." Karen said.

"That's crazy, Matt had nothing to do with it." Foggy shrugged.

"I know but if they keep investigating, they'll find out that I did it." Karen continued.

"What?" Foggy asked with confused look on his face.

Karen's breaths were shaky as her voice broke. "I killed him."

Foggy reeled back, stunned and horrified at what Karen had done.

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

After a disastrous date with Julie, Dex entered his apartment, in anger punching through a wall before he noticed that he got some blood on his shirt. Dex took it off and picked a knife from the floor, throwing it at Julie on the photo hanging on the wall from when they had worked together in suicide hotline. Dex exhaled heavily before he picked headphones and a tape recorder, listening to his therapeutic sessions.

* * *

_**New York** _

"Damn it." Elektra cursed as she and Matt noticed that the FBI had searched in his apartment, planning to arrest him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	6. The Fake Daredevil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foggy and Karen attempt to help Matt from being arrested by the FBI while Fisk plans another step of his revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"Karen, the gun, where is it?" Foggy asked as Karen had told him about what happened with Wesley and she sat down, taking a glass of booze.

"Bottom of the Hudson." Karen replied.

"Did you touch the body?" Foggy inquired, trying to create a compelling case for her.

"He said he was gonna kill you." Karen explained. "You… and Matt… and my family. He said I would die knowing I got you all killed."

"Karen, that's awful but please, you have to focus." Foggy pleaded. "Did you touch the body?"

"No. I don't think so." Karen stammered before she took a sip.

"What about your clothes? Did you get blood on them?" Foggy asked.

"I threw them away. Foggy, can you  _not_  talk to me like a lawyer and just… just talk to me?" Karen's voice broke as the guilt she had been bottling up, started to come up to surface. "I want you to tell me that I'm a bad person."

"I can't say that." Foggy assured her.

"Why… why not?" Karen asked, on verge of tears.

"Because you're not." Foggy told her.

"Then why are you looking at me like that?" Karen asked hurtfully.

Foggy sat across her. "Because my friend, my amazing, kind, brilliant friend, went through something terrible… and I didn't know."

"When I got the gun, I could've called the cops. I could've run." Karen said.

"You were afraid for your life, it was self-defense." Foggy consoled her.

"Seven times." Karen whispered.

"What?" Foggy said, confused.

"I shot him… seven times… because I wanted him dead." Karen explained.

* * *

**_The following day, Karen's apartment_ **

Karen was on edge, having spent a sleepless night in guilt and fear as she was washing her face at the basin before she heard sounds that made her pick a book as a weapon. She entered the room, from which the sound was coming as she saw a man with black mask covering his eyes and black shirt and pants before she realized it was Matt, who was closing the window as she lowered her hands in relief and frustration, considering the recent mess with him.

"Hey, Karen." Matt said as he faced her.

"You need to pay me back for your rent." Karen drawled.

* * *

"I've been staying where I grew up. There's a reason I stayed away, Karen." Matt explained as Karen was preparing for herself a drink.

"Yeah, if you say it was to protect me, I'm seriously gonna throw up." Karen said, with frustration and sarcasm in her tone.

"I can't protect you." Matt said. "Not from Fisk. Can't even protect myself."

"Sure you don't want coffee?" Karen asked, though she was unable to hide the anger in her tone.

"If you wanna yell at me, go right ahead." Matt said.

Karen put her coffee into the microwave oven and turned it on before she faced him with crossed arms. "Did I ever tell you about my old neighbor, when I was growing up? Mr. Larssen. Well, he was this nice Norwegian guy. He let his wife do his talking. But on the days, when it'd get really cold, you know, and stuff would freeze and you'd need moving your car or… unstick a door, Mr. Larssen was always there." Matt sat down at the table, listening to her. "So, one winter, his wife hit a patch of black ice. The whole town turned out for her funeral. And Mr. Larssen sat there through the sermon and then he gathered up his casseroles and went bak to work on the farm, like if it was just another day. He never said a word about it. And I thought I'd go over there and be a good neighbor, see if he wanted to talk about what happened. And you know what he said? " _What for?_ "" She picked her coffee from the oven before she continued. "You know what? You came to Foggy because you needed something from him. What do you need from me, Matt?"

"Fisk staged the attack on himself in prison." Matt explained. "That's how he… tricked the FBI into moving him to a hotel. Got some lifer named Jasper Evans to shank him and then arranged for him to walk out of prison. On the books, Evans is in solitary. In reality, he's been set free."

"Can you prove that?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, if I can find him." Matt replied. "Get him to talk to you.  _Bulletin_  publishes the details. Fisk is exposed. And the FBI will be forced to send him back to prison. So, yeah. You're right. I came to you because I needed something. Your help. What do you say? You wanna help me?"

"No. And I'm serious about the rent." Karen said angrily after a moment of thought before she left into her bedroom.

* * *

_**Elsewhere** _

After sleepless night of nightmares and terrible flashbacks from the ruined date, Dex picked the recorder and headphones, listening to his therapeutic sessions.

* * *

_**Presidential Hotel** _

Fisk put on a black shirt, white pants and coat as he left his room and saw his apartment being redecorated and he smiled in satisfaction at feeling like at the top again.

* * *

New York

"It's total bullshit. I can't believe Matt would even ask." Karen told Foggy as they sat in the car.

"But I still think you should help him." Foggy insisted.

"Oh, come on." Karen groaned.

"Just hear me out." Foggy said. "You agree to write the article on one condition. Matt turns himself him to the FBI."

"What? No!" Karen protested.

"They're only up in our chili because they're looking for Matt." Foggy explained. "Once they have him…"

"But he can't. I mean, he'll never agree to it." Karen rejected.

"There's no reason to think the FBI knows anything about Matt's other life." Foggy tried to assure her. "But if he can give them that witness, Matt's in the clear. So, we all are. I could reach out as Matt's attorney and negotiate his surrender."

Karen considered before she gave in. "OK but I'm not ready to forgive him."

"I get it." Foggy nodded.

"You know, you shouldn't be, either." Karen said. "I mean, he stole your identity, he made you a target."

"Has Matt been shitty friend lately? Without a doubt. But deep down, I think it's hurting him as much as it's hurting us." Foggy argued.

"How do you figure?" Karen questioned.

"Because he could've gone to any reporter, Karen but he came to you." Foggy replied. "Maybe Matt's finally coming to his senses. But even if he isn't, the way he's been treating us lately is on him. Us turning our backs would be on us. People have bailed on Matt his whole life and I'm not gonna be one of them. You do what you want but that's not the kind of friend I wanna be."

Karen chuckled and sighed, realizing Foggy had a point. "It's like you argue for a living or something."

"Was it too much? It felt like too much." Foggy joked and Karen smiled.

"Matt said he was staying at the place where he grew up. Do you know where that is?" Karen asked.

* * *

**_Elsewhere_ **

Danny and Colleen rented an apartment as they sat down, investigating the recent attack on their dojo. "Misty said that these guys are most of them ex-military. Veterans." Colleen said.

"Hired guns, maybe?" Danny deduced.

"If so, I wonder who hired them. I don't think it was the Hand, this isn't their style." Colleen noted.

"And Joy wouldn't do this. Not after what has happened recently." Danny added. "Did you make some other gangs in Chinatown angry?"

"If I did, I doubt they have that kind of firepower." Colleen argued. "Whoever it was, it can't have been someone from our past."

"We should call Misty. See if she can help. Or Jessica." Danny suggested.

"And I think we should keep an eye on Matt's friends too. Who knows, maybe whoever did this, might be after them, too." Colleen said.

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Dex entered Fisk's suite with a tray of food as Fisk sat at the desk. "I don't know what strings you had to pull to get that waitress a job but it was a waste of your time. Yeah, they train us counterintel in Quantico." Fisk looked at Dex with no hint of emotion on his face. "You really think I'm gonna fall for some bush-league honey trap? You got it in your head that she means something to me. But she doesn't. She doesn't mean shit to me. So what. You, you have me tailed for a few days, you think you know me? Think you got me dialed? You don't, alright." Dex said, breathing out quickly and face turning red with rage. "You don't know  _anything_  about me." Fisk said nothing and Dex ran out of his patience, throwing the tray down on the floor. "Say something!" Dex shouted angrily before he took a breath to calm down.

"When I was a boy, I… I beat my father's skull in with a hammer. I was twelve years old." Fisk said calmly. "Young for my age, in fact. Terribly inexperienced. I'd never been to a dance with a girl or… stayed up past midnight. Never been out of the city or even taken the subway on my own. Yet there I was. 12 years old, standing over my father's body. Watching him die by my hand." Fisk got up. "That feeling. That moment. I sense it's something you're familiar with. You were thought to hide beneath many fictions. You fashioned yourself into something the world would tolerate. A soldier doing his patriotic duty. A sniper in the FBI. The watchful companion of a nice young woman."

"You destroyed what we had." Dex sneered.

"If it were honest and true, no one could've destroyed it." Fisk countered.

"I should've let you die." Dex said as Fisk neared him. "Stay back."

"Julie never would've understood you. And society won't either. It punishes people like you. Like us." Fisk said and Dex shook his head in denial before walking away, not wanting to listen to more of Fisk's taunts but they kept replaying in his mind but more bad news fell on him as Agent Alvarez showed him a news article about Dex being under investigation for the botched transfer of Fisk.

"Excellent work." Maki said as she stepped up from the shadows. "Are you ready to proceed to the next stage?"

"Are they ready?" Fisk asked.

"Excited." Maki smirked. "They'll strike with us together, tonight. Considering how much you paid them."

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

Karen entered the church as she talked with Sister Maggie, trying to understand Matt's behavior.

* * *

**_Later, New York_ **

Karen entered a drug addict lair as she was asking around for Jasper Evans before someone approached her, while he ordered for the other junkies to leave.

"Jasper Evans?" Karen asked before someone grabbed her from behind. Karen hit the addict in the face with her elbow, while Matt threw Evans away. He kicked another addict in the chest as he fell down, while Elektra hit another one in the face and in the throat before she kicked him in the legs, causing for him to fall down. Another addict rushed at Matt but Matt dodged and hit him in the back of the head before Evans attempted to grab Matt but Matt slammed him to a wall before Elektra knocked out the addict, who fell down a moment ago.

"Sit down!" Matt ordered. Evans struggled, so Matt slammed him to the floor and punched him in the face.

"You OK?" Karen panted out. Matt nodded. "OK. So, you knew his last known address? You knew he'd probably be here, so what… what were you waiting for? For me? You knew I'd come?"

"I hoped." Matt corrected.

"And what is she doing here?" Karen asked, eying Elektra with suspicion.

"I'm here to help and do not worry, I won't hurt you if I won't have to." Elektra said but it did not assure Karen much.

"OK, look, I'm gonna help you. But… after that, I need you to help Foggy and me." Karen said. "Look, the FBI are all over us…"

"…and you want me to turn myself in." Matt realized.

"Did you talk to Foggy?" Karen asked.

"No. But, uh… it's the smart move. Sure. I'll do it." Matt said.

"But what if they figure out that you're… you?" Karen asked.

"Well, this mask doesn't do me any good if I'm a wanted man either way." Matt pointed out. "Besides, if the FBI figured out who I am, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll lock me up next to Fisk."

"Jesus. Foggy said you were… different." Karen said, worried about the change in Matt's attitude. "Changed, I guess. I told him it was bullshit."

"Alright, look, we can't take his statement here. Fisk's lawyers will say it was coerced." Matt pointed out.

"Yeah, no, we take him to the Bulletin. We get him on record in front of the witnesses." Karen suggested. "Besides, my editor's gonna wanna hear this with his own ears."

"Wake up, Evans." Matt lifted him up, grabbing him by his shirt and threw him towards the chair. "It's your lucky day, I'm gonna give you a choice. Option one. I call the FBI and Wilson Fisk has you killed before you can tell them how you got out of prison. Option two." He gestured to Karen. "You tell this nice reporter here the truth about what you did for Fisk and I'll let you run somewhere Fisk will never find you."

"I can't." Evans said.

"Cool. Option one." Matt said.

"No, if I talk, Fisk kills my son!" Evans yelled as he turned to the boy on the ground, who was knocked out and who Karen had just paid off. "Look at this place. I grew up here. We had a good life before the neighborhood went down and I got myself and I got myself put away. I left my son without a father and this is what he does with his life. If I go back inside, it won't be long before he's sharing a cell with me or worse."

Karen neared him as she knelt down. "If Fisk stays out of prison, a lot of innocent people are gonna die. So, you can either tell my paper the truth and we let you and your son run far away or you can go back to prison and I print the story like you talked anyway."

"You would lie and get us both killed?" Evans demanded incredulously.

"Your choice." Karen challenged.

* * *

**_FBI_ **

Ray entered the conference room, where was Foggy waiting as they negotiated the terms of Matt's surrender.

* * *

_**New York** _

"Are you sure you want to give up?" Elektra asked.

"If that's what it takes to protect Foggy and Karen, it's a price I'm willing to pay." Matt said.

"You know I can't let you go." Elektra pleaded.

"If you love me…" He turned to her as he put on his suit. "I'm asking you to do this for me."

* * *

**_Dex's apartment_ **

Dex was in his apartment, agitated as his previous failures were replaying in his mind before his phone rang and he answered the call. "Hello?"

" _When I was in prison, my mother passed away._ " Fisk said. " _Among her effects was a shoebox with my name on it. A keepsake box of sorts. It was full of happy relics from my life. The gifts that I made her, when I was young. The odd news clipping. And the hammer. The instrument of my father's death. I thought that she had thrown it away. But she was proud of what I had done, of who I was. She accepted me, without shame. And that's what I want for you. Someone to accept you without shame. I do. And I've sent you a gift. An opportunity to become your true self. And if you accept this, unlike everyone in your life, I will never abandon you. The decision is yours._ "

Fisk hung up as Dex heard someone knocking on the door. Dex opened the door lightly, with his gun ready as Manning was in front of his apartment. "A car is waiting, sir. If you care to come with me."

* * *

**_Bulletin_ **

Karen and Ellison were interviewing Evans, while Foggy and Matt were waiting for Ray until the lights went off and Matt heard screams.

"Foggy, find Karen. Get her out of here." Matt ordered.

"Oh, shit, this is not happening." Foggy panicked.

* * *

The reporters in the office area were wondering what was going on before they heard the door open.

"Hey. You can't be here!"

The man in Daredevil suit hit the man in the head with a billy club and jammed it into his neck, while another man, wearing a shattered skull mask, shot two reporters in the head with a pistol, while a Japanese woman with hair in a bun threw needles, hitting a reporter in the throat as he gagged and choked out, struggling for breath as he collapsed to the floor.

Fakedevil then threw a billy club at another employee as she screamed, while blood spattered as the club embedded itself in her throat.

A woman with hair tied to a bun shot an employee down with her rifle as another man with short hair pulled out his gun and shot down more employees.

Karen carefully opened the door as she saw Fakedevil snap the neck of another employee. Karen panicked and closed the door.

"Karen? What is it?" Ellison asked as she ran to her purse and pulled out her gun.

Foggy entered and his blood ran cold as he saw the dead bodies on the ground and in front of him a man in Daredevil suit, a Japanese woman in black suit and hood and he paled as he recognized Shades but didn't know the other woman accompanying them.

Fakedevil pulled out his billy club from the dead employee and turned to face Foggy. Fakedevil threw it at his direction and Foggy in fear closed his eyes, awaiting his demise. But, to his surprise, Matt caught it mere inches from his face as he and Elektra faced the attackers and Foggy ran into the room, where were Karen, Ellison and Evans.

"Who are you?" Matt questioned.

"I'm Daredevil." The imposter said, smirking.

"Long time, no see, Murdock. Traitor." Maki said.

Matt and Elektra rushed at their enemies with Matt throwing the billy club but Dex dodged before Matt punched him in the face. They struggled for a moment and Matt blocked Dex's attacks and pushed him back as Dex leaned back towards a nearby table.

Elektra pulled out her sais and dodged as Shades, Walker and Russo opened fire at her, while Maki threw shurikens at her.

"Die, bitch!" Russo shouted.

"Hey, how about we even the odds!" Colleen shouted as she jumped in and hit a table with her Iron Fist, sending it flying towards them as Shades, Walker and Russo rolled away.

"Russo!" Frank roared as he and Russo stared at each other, while Russo got up. Flashbacks returned, from when his best friend smashed his face and destroyed it.

" _You're gonna learn about pain. You're gonna learn about loss. Every morning. I look for them, Bill. But then I remember. And it's gonna be the same for you. Whenever you look at your ugly mangled face, you're gonna remember what you did. You'll remember, Bill. You're gonna remember me!_ "

Russo took a deep breath, rage filling him before he screamed angrily and opened fire with his rifle with Walker and Shades, while Frank took cover behind a table before firing at them with his rifle as Walker, Shades and Russo took cover behind cubicles.

Danny engaged Walker as he threw her rifle away before they traded punches. Walker pulled out a garotte and tried to wrap it around Danny's hand but Danny kicked her back and struggled out of her grip. "You won't get me with the same trick twice, Walker."

Elektra jumped over a table and kicked Maki in her face as she staggered back. Maki pulled out her sword and aimed for Elektra's head but Elektra blocked with her sais. Elektra kicked Maki in the stomach and slashed her across her cheek and tried to stab her in the shoulder but Maki managed to scratch her in the neck and Elektra kicked her back as Maki fell down, crashing against a table.

Matt pummeled Fakedevil and pushed him back as Fakedevil staggered against a pillar. Matt kicked him in the stomach as Fakedevil knelt down. Matt picked Fakedevil up before he dodged Fakedevil's attacks with the billy club. Matt grabbed his hand and hit him in the face. Matt dodged Fakedevil's strikes again and pushed him down on the floor. Fakedevil rolled back and spat out blood before he threw the billy club on the floor and it ricocheted, hitting Matt in the face. Dex rushed at him and tackled him to the floor before Fakedevil slid down under the table.

"You told me I'd remember what you did to me! I keep looking every time I look at myself in the mirror!" Russo yelled, shooting as Frank was hiding behind a cubicle and reloading and taking cover from the gunfire from Russo and Shades.

"I should have killed you. I'm gonna finish the job!" Frank roared as he reloaded and opened fire again before Russo and Shades took cover.

Walker pulled out a syringe with a drug but Danny kicked it away from her hand. "I thought you would've changed."

"New job. Too much money to refuse. Nothing personal, Danny." Walker shrugged. She tried to reach for the syringe but Colleen jumped at her and kicked her back. Walker pulled out her machetes and engaged but Colleen channeled chi into her katana and sliced through Walker's blades.

"Look, it doesn't have to be this way, Walker." Colleen pleaded before Danny jumped and hit the light above, dazing Walker and Colleen grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and sprayed her, trying to use the cold to trigger Mary as the sparkling lights were stunning her.

Maki got up and sliced Elektra across her chest and aimed at her head. Elektra dodged but Maki managed to scratch her across her neck as Elektra hissed. Elektra scratched Maki across her cheek with her sai but Maki headbutted Elektra and landed a powerful kick at Elektra's chest as she slid down the floor.

Fakedevil threw a stapler at Matt's head and a fire extinguisher, causing for Matt to fall down as he attempted to jump over a table. Fakedevil threw a billy club at the light above Matt, the sparks and the lamp falling down. Matt kicked the nearby table and slid away before the lamp would fall on him. Matt got up and took cover behind a table as Fakedevil picked nearby pens and scissors and tried to throw them at Matt.

Frank ran out of ammo as Russo and Shades shot him in the armor. They tried to finish him off but they realized that they ran out of ammo too. They all pulled out knives and with a roar rushed at each other. Frank grabbed Shades and slammed him against a table before Russo stabbed him in the shoulder and pulled out his wristblade, stabbing Frank in the stomach but it did not get deep due to Frank's body armor as Russo glared at Frank hatefully, while pinning him to a wall.

"Reminds you of something, Frankie? Maybe I should shred your face too. I've waited a long time for this." Russo sneered.

"Keep waiting, asshole." Frank slashed Russo across his cheek and Russo grew more furious that Frank again damaged his face. Frank punched Russo in the face and stomach and threw him away and was about to execute him and Shades with his pistol before Shades shot Frank in his arm, causing for him to drop his gun.

Matt dodged as Fakedevil was throwing pens and scissors and staplers at him and took cover behind a cubicle. He tried to use a pen on a nearby desk as a weapon before a pencil that Dex threw, knocked it off his hand. Matt hid behind a cubicle and was about to engage Fakedevil with a chair but Fakedevil threw a computer monitor, sending Matt crashing against a table.

Colleen grew desperate and frustrated, so she slammed her Iron Fist to the floor as the shockwave sent everyone flying back with the cubicles and equipment being smashed in the process and Matt's ears were ringing. However, the shockwave did not reach Fakedevil as he burst into the office, where Karen, Evans, Foggy and Ellison were hiding. Fakedevil kicked the door in as Karen aimed her gun at him.

"Stop or I'll…"

Fakedevil knocked the gun off her hand by throwing a billy club. Foggy punched Fakedevil in the face but it did not faze him. Fakedevil threw Foggy against the camera as it fell down.

"What the hell are you…" Fakedevil threw a pencil at Ellison's abdomen as he fell down. Karen raised her hands with Evans in surrender before Fakedevil picked up his gun and aimed at Karen as she hyperventilated in fear. Fakedevil shot Evans in the head as blood spattered across Karen's face. Karen breathed out in fear as Fakedevil neared her.

"Hello, Karen. It's nice to see you again." Fakedevil said before walking away as Karen was shaking and gasping in terror and shock.

* * *

"FBI! Don't move!" The agents yelled as they rushed up the fire exit staircase and saw Fakedevil, Maki, Shades, Russo and Walker. Fakedevil hit Ray in the face with the billy club as he fell down and kicked Barney down the stairwell, while Shades, Walker and Russo shot down some of the agents and Maki pulled out her sword, slicing through the rest and made their escape. Ray and Barney got up and watched the assailants leave before Ray called out on the radio.

"Agents down! Agents down!" He and Barney burst into the office. "FBI! FBI! Don't move!"

The lights turned on as they saw the dead employees and trashed office.

* * *

Matt, Elektra, Danny and Colleen sneaked their way past the agents as they made their way towards the exit.

* * *

"What the hell happened? Who did this?" One of the agents wondered as they watched the massacre.

"It was Daredevil, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing and Frank Castle." Ray said, vowing to arrest the vigilantes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group fight scenes are always tricky but I'd like to think I have experience with this kind of stuff. Let me know if you think I did a good job with the fight in the Bulletin by adding in multiple characters.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	7. Old Acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt investigates an old friend as he, Danny, Colleen and Elektra attempt to find a way to take down Fisk, Maki and their allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fisk entered the hidden room under his apartment as he watched the news on the monitors.

" _…rushed to nearby hospitals in critical condition. But what we do know is that according to several eyewitnesses, the brutal attack on the Bulletin staff has been carried by none other than Daredevil, alongside with former CEO of Anvil Enterprises, Billy Russo and notorious criminal, Hernan Enrique Salazar Shades Alvarez. Witnesses claim that Daniel Rand of Rand Enterprises was seen on the scene too, engaging the assailants with Frank Castle and other vigilantes we were unable to identify. Whether they came to stop the massacre or aid Daredevil, hasn't been confirmed as of this moment._ "

Fisk smiled, satisfied that he was able to frame the vigilantes and stain Matt's reputation and put the doubt in his allies.

* * *

**_Clinton Church_ **

"You're missing the point, he didn't just find someone to wear my suit, he found someone as fast and skilled as I've ever seen and I couldn't take him, he found someone like me, he found someone to kill me!" Matt snapped at Maggie, holding his wound.

"And he wasn't working alone, he was working with some of the most dangerous people in this city." Danny added.

"Matthew…" Maggie tried to calm Matt down.

"I was stupid enough to think that I had Fisk cornered. He knew we'd find the witness and we just brought the sheep to slaughter! Jasper Evans is dead! He's dead and he leaves a son behind and that's on us!" Matt said angrily.

"There's no way anyone of us could've predicted this." Colleen tried to assure Matt.

"I was so sure that I was finally out in front of this bastard." Matt said. "And Fisk, he knew I thought that, he was waiting for me."

"Matthew…"

"Foggy and Karen, both of them could've been killed and there would've been nothing we could've done to stop it. Nothing." Matt snapped.

"Matt, you're bleeding." Danny pointed out.

"Your friend is right, I need to stitch you up." Maggie added.

"I listened to you. I listened to you and they almost died." Matt pointed at Maggie accusingly and sighed in frustration as he leaned onto a tombstone. "God damn it, I'm such an idiot."

"No. I'm the idiot." Maggie corrected. "I told you to involve your friends and I made things worse. I'm used to putting on a brave face, when people bring their troubles to the church. And I find it that they don't just bring their troubles, they bring their answers, too, if you let them talk enough. But… what you're dealing with, is so far beyond my experience that…" She paused as Matt sat down. "Well… all I can hope to do is help keep your wounds stitched and your head clear, so you can be safe. And I'll be more careful about giving advice to the Devil. And, occasionally, possibly, I'll try to keep my mouth shut."

"You just wanted to help, no one can fault you for that." Colleen told her. "Where's Castle?"

"If I know him, looking for Russo." Matt said.

"Now, can I please see to those wounds?" Maggie asked as they all nodded before she left.

"So, Fisk is working with Maki and Walker and I know about Russo from the news but who was the other guy?" Danny asked.

"Shades Alvarez." Colleen explained. "Misty told me about him. He and Luke know each other from prison, he was a criminal. Right hand of Mariah Dillard, crime lord of Harlem. He tried to cut a deal with Misty and sold Dillard out to Misty but someone poisoned her and the deal was off, so Misty sent him to jail."

"Maki must have broken him out." Elektra realized.

"OK, we need a plan. And a very good one." Colleen wiped her face. "Who knows what other allies they may have. I think we should all take a rest and think this through."

"Where did the impostor even get the Daredevil suit?" Danny wondered before it hit Matt.

* * *

**_FBI_ **

Ray and Barney interrogated Foggy and Karen in the conference room as they showed them the tape from the Bulletin on TV.

" _Hello, Karen. It's nice to see you again._ " The impostor said as Karen breathed out in fear, while he was executing Evans.

"Was there anyone else in the room named Karen?" Ray asked rhetorically. "Or on the whole  _Bulletin_  staff?"

"I'm advising my client not to answer any questions that treat her like the asshole." Foggy said.

"There was not. He was talking to you." Ray continued, ignoring Foggy, while Karen was looking at the blood on her sleeves, still in shock. "Why won't we watch it again, see…"

"No." Karen protested. "He was talking to me. That's true."

"OK. Good." Ray sat down.

"But I've never met him before." Karen added.

"Your own newspaper states that you have encountered Daredevil at least twice." Barney reminded, showing her news articles.

"That psycho's not Daredevil." Karen shook her head.

"I got a pretty good look at him too. Could've fooled me." Ray said sarcastically.

"Do you think that every fat guy with a white beard and red suit is Santa Claus?" Foggy snarked.

"If he comes down my chimney and leaves presents under the tree." Ray replied.

"Exactly. If he acted like Santa." Karen agreed. "This guy doesn't act like Daredevil."

"Based on your two encounters?" Ray questioned.

"Dig a little deeper." Karen said, annoyed as she showed them the report on the desk. "Why don't you read everything? He doesn't kill people, ever. It's not Daredevil. Besides, you know that Danny Rand, Frank Castle and Colleen Wing tried to fend him off, alongside with the people that attacked the Bulletin, Billy Russo and Shades Alvarez included."

"Let's say you're telling the truth. Do you know who was the guy in the Daredevil suit, then?" Barney crossed his hands.

"Well, someone working for Fisk, who didn't want Evans to talk, obviously!" Karen said angrily. "Did you look into Felix Manning? Red Lion Bank? Any of the leads that I dropped into your lap?"

"They're on my to-do list." Ray said indifferently.

"And assuming you're right and the Daredevil is innocent, do you know where can we find Mr. Rand, Mr. Castle and Miss Wing?" Barney questioned. "Their apartment recently exploded.

"No." Karen shook her head, looking at the blood on her sleeve, freaking out.

"He dropped your name, Miss Page, used your gun to murder someone and in this entire shitshow, you're the only person he didn't lay a finger on." Ray said. "So, I'm sorry you think that this is bullshit but something doesn't add up. So, we're gonna keep going over this until something does."

"It's not gonna add up until you start asking the right questions." Foggy shot back.

"How about this one? Where's Matt Murdock?" Ray said.

"Yet another fine example of a question that's besides the freaking point!" Foggy snapped.

"You were supposed to deliver him, Mr. Nelson but there are zero Matt Murdocks in my custody." Ray snapped back.

"Zero Jasper Evans left alive." Karen countered and Ray and Barney sighed. "You think that's random? He kills the one guy with dirt on Fisk. You know that already? Is that why you don't wanna go there?"

"Karen…" Foggy turned to her.

"What?" Karen snapped as she whirled on him before sighing. "That psycho in suit did Agent Nadeem and Agent Bernard a huge favor." She turned to them. "Now there's no one left to tell the world what a fool Fisk is making of the FBI."

"Did you know Daredevil was gonna attack the  _Bulletin_?" Ray asked. "Is that why you brought your gun last night?"

"OK, we're done here." Foggy intervened, having enough of the pointless interrogation as he and Karen left as Barney considered.

"Something doesn't add up." Barney said. "I don't know what but…"

"You don't think Daredevil did this?" Ray scoffed. "Look at the facts…"

"All I'm saying is that we're missing something." Barney said.

* * *

_**New York** _

Melvin watched Betsy walked into the police car as Matt approached him. "So, Betsy's your parole officer."

Melvin turned around as he faced Matt. "Please, don't tell anyone. It's against the rules."

"I don't care what you do with Betsy, Melvin." Matt said. "You know why I'm here."

"Fisk made me make the suit." Melvin explained. "Did that man hurt you? I'm sorry."

"Who was he?" Matt inquired.

"He didn't tell me his name." Melvin said. "But I can make you a new one, to protect you against him. It'd be a fair fight."

"I don't want the suit anymore." Matt said.

"You don't like it?" Melvin asked.

"I've outgrown what it stood for." Matt corrected. "When you made my suit, there were molds. Measurements."

Melvin breathed out. "At the workshop, maybe there's something."

"I've been to the workshop, it's been burned down." Matt told him.

"Yeah, I burned it down because I didn't want to help Fisk but he made me a new shop and he threatened Betsy." Melvin explained.

"People died because you helped him, Melvin." Matt neared him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Melvin said apologetically.

"Where's your new shop?" Matt asked.

* * *

**_FBI_ **

Madani entered the bureau as she showed her badge. "Homeland Security. I need to talk with the agent in charge of investigating Wilson Fisk. Rahul Nadeem."

"There." One of the agents pointed to Ray, who was leaving Hattley's office, while he looked frustrated.

"Agent Nadeem?" Madani asked as she showed her badged. "Agent Dinah Madani. Homeland Security."

"Look, agent, I don't have time…"

"It's about Frank Castle, Billy Russo and Wilson Fisk and the assault on the Bulletin last night." Madani explained before Ray recognized her.

"You're the one, who investigated Russo and Castle last year, right?" Ray asked and Madani nodded.

* * *

"I don't know what you've heard but there's no way either Castle or Daredevil would've attacked the Bulletin. With Russo, I might buy it if someone had paid him a lot of money." Madani said.

"Like who?" Ray scoffed. "Wilson Fisk? I mean, even if that was true, all we have is a possible hearsay of a dead lifer, who got out, possibly by mistake."

"Agent Nadeem, I don't know much about Daredevil but I'm sure that Frank Castle would  _never_  attack a newspaper office full of civilians. And just judging from the facts that I had looked up, I'm sure neither would Daredevil or Danny Rand or Colleen Wing. Admit it, something doesn't add up." Madani insisted.

"Even if you were right, our only possible lead is dead." Ray sighed as he considered.

"Then we need to keep digging."

* * *

**_New York_ **

Matt, Elektra, Danny and Colleen entered a warehouse with Melvin as Melvin opened the barricade gate to the workshop.

"Why is the suit here?" Matt wondered as he saw the Daredevil suit on the mannequin.

"That's not the one he wore. Fisk made me make two." Melvin said.

"Why?" Matt wondered before Melvin locked them in as he closed the door.

"Ask him yourself."

"Hey!" Danny kicked the door. "Let us out!"

"No, no, no, don't do this." Matt pleaded, realizing that Melvin set them up.

"I don't have a choice, he'll come for Betsy." Melvin protested.

"We can protect you both, just tell us who wore the suit. We'll stop them." Colleen pleaded.

"I can't! Fisk will know! And he'll hurt Betsy!" Melvin said.

"If you really loved her, you'd cut her loose, this life doesn't work with Betsy's." Matt insisted before he pried the lock open.

"I can't let you all leave!" Melvin grabbed Matt but Matt pushed back.

"It doesn't have to be this way. Don't do this." Danny pleaded as they were in a standoff with Melvin. Melvin threw a punch but Matt dodged before Colleen punched Melvin in his face and Danny kicked him in the chest, knocking him down on the ground. Melvin got up before Elektra aimed her sais at him, while Matt pinned him to the nearby palettes.

"Don't." Elektra warned.

"Someone's coming." Matt realized as he heard footsteps.

"I'm not supposed to be here." Melvin choked out. He tried to push Matt back before Danny and Colleen kicked him in the legs, making Melvin kneel as Matt grabbed him in chokehold.

"It's the FBI, Melvin, why would Fisk send…"

"They're supposed to find you with the suit. With your friends." Melvin choked out as they realized what was Fisk planning,

"He's framing me for being Daredevil. Oh, God." Matt paled.

Danny sighed. "Listen, we can protect Betsy, just let us go. You do what Fisk says, you're both dead."

"You gotta help us or Betsy's dead." Matt pleaded. "Who did you make the suit for?"

"He never told me his name but he was an FBI agent." Melvin explained.

"How do you know that?" Matt wondered.

"He was talking about it with the man, who brought him." Melvin said.

" _Breach. Breach. Breach._ " Matt heard an agent pull out a pin of a grenade as he took cover behind palettes.

"FBI! Don't move!" One of the FBI SWAT said, throwing a flashbang grenade as everyone took cover. "Go! Go! Go!"

Melvin threw a wheel saw as the agents dodged. Colleen and Danny charged their Iron Fists, sending some palettes flying towards the agents.

More agents burst in but Matt grabbed a rifle from one of them and hit him in the face and in the stomach, knocking him down before he kicked another one in his legs. Elektra hit one of them in the throat, making him choke before she kicked him in the chest, causing for him to fall down. Melvin rushed at one of the agents, sending him crashing against a crate. Danny jumped off a wall and kicked one of the agents in his face and in the chest, while Colleen threw another one over her shoulder. Matt threw another agent towards palettes and hit him in the face, knocking him out.

"Move!" Colleen ordered as Matt and Elektra realized what was she and Danny planning.

Danny and Colleen charged their Iron Fists and hit each other as the shockwave sent the agents and Melvin and the palettes flying back, while Matt and Elektra rolled away.

Matt helped Melvin get up. "Come on, get up. We need to get out of here."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Melvin said.

"Apologies later, getting out of here now." Colleen said.

* * *

Betsy was putting someone into her car, in handcuffs as Matt approached her. "Betsy."

She turned around and was about to pull out her gun upon seeing Matt, Danny, Elektra and Colleen.

"Don't. We're not gonna hurt you." Colleen cautioned.

"We're here about Melvin." Matt explained.

"Melvin? Melvin Potter?" Betsy scowled.

"Hey, Betsy." Melvin showed up from the shadows.

"Melvin? What's going on?" Betsy asked.

"Wilson Fisk." Danny said as Betsy glared at Melvin.

"Damn it, Melvin." Betsy groaned.

"Leave town. At least for now. With Fisk walking free, you'll never be safe in New York." Colleen said.

"Thank you." Melvin nodded.

* * *

Ray entered the garage, checking the fridge before Matt pinned him to it, his arm towards Ray's throat. Ray attempted to struggle out before he saw that Matt was being accompanied by Elektra, Colleen and Danny.

"Who are you?" Ray demanded, glaring at Matt.

"I'm Daredevil. The real one." Matt said. Matt let go as Ray eyed the intruders in suspicion.

"You don't look like…"

"I buried the red suit." Matt said. "The people, who attacked the Bulletin, with Russo, they resurrected it."

"Look, we know what you may think but we and Mr. Castle are innocent." Danny pleaded. "The real threat are Wilson Fisk, Billy Russo, Shades Alvarez, Mary Walker, Maki Matsumoto and the man wearing the Daredevil suit."

"You do, however, match the description of a guy, who's been turning up FBI agents." Ray eyed Matt more carefully.

"Which is the last thing I ever wanted but you people haven't left me any choice." Matt shot back.

"You need to wake the hell up. Fisk is playing you all." Colleen insisted. "He's using you."

"Deep down you gotta see that." Danny nodded.

"I heard you confront that psycho in the Bulletin, with Mary Walker, Billy Russo and Shades Alvarez and Maki Matsumoto, the other woman, I heard you try to stop them and they almost killed you too. So let me ask you this, agent Nadeem. Who do you think is the danger here? Us or them?"

Ray was about to speak up before Matt ordered him to be quiet as they heard a door open.

"Dad? Mom wants to know where you are." Sami, Ray's son, said.

"Don't come down, Sami. I dropped a beer, there's glass. Tell your Mom I need a couple of minutes to clean it up." Ray said.

"OK." Sami said as he left and closed the door.

Ray stared at them and considered. "Let's say I believe the people that just broke into my house. Let's just say that. What do you got?"

"The man, who attacked the Bulletin dressed as Daredevil, he's in the FBI." Matt said and Ray narrowed his eyes, intrigued.

"Keep talking."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like Aragorn II Elessar, I felt bad for Melvin, so I changed his fate, with Danny, Colleen and Elektra helping.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	8. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt, Elektra, Danny, Colleen and Ray investigate Dex as Karen attempts to provoke Fisk into making a mistake. A family emergency forces Barney to leave New York, while Matt has to deal with unexpected revelations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After Matt, Danny and Colleen had given Ray the information about the fake Daredevil, Ray reviewed the video of Daredevil killing Jasper Evans before realizing he had heard that voice before as he started to investigate his colleagues and checking the visiting logs, realizing that Dex's activities were becoming suspicious.

* * *

Dex was jogging and following Julie Barnes after their failed date, attempting to plead with her. With some reluctancy, she managed to listen to him.

* * *

Frank was in his hideout, cleaning his weapons, considering his next step how to find Russo before his phone rang as he answered. "Yeah?"

" _Castle, what exactly happened in the Bulletin?_ " Madani asked.

"I don't know what you heard but Red's being set up. Russo, Shades and whoever the woman was, is working with the fake Devil and Fisk. They're trying to set him up." Frank said.

" _I can see that._ " Madani agreed before sighing. " _Look, Fisk and Shades and their cohorts are out of my jurisdiction and I want Russo down as much as you do. Tell me what you know._ "

* * *

Ray went into an alley, waiting before Matt, Elektra, Danny and Colleen appeared.

"Agent Nadeem." Matt said.

"You're late." Ray pointed out.

"We were early but we needed to be sure about you." Matt explained. "What's his name?"

"Yeah, well, I need to be sure about you too." Ray said coldly. "You have a history of hurting people. I'm not handing you a federal agent if you're gonna kill him."

"I don't do that." Matt protested.

"We don't kill, not unless we're given no other choice left." Colleen explained.

"The agents you beat up the other day? One of them is still in the hospital. All of them just doing their jobs." Ray said.

"If they'd arrested us, there'd be no one to take down Fisk." Matt pointed out.

"If you're right about him, taking Fisk down is our job." Ray shot back.

"Yeah, right, that's why he's in presidential suite in four-star hotel nowadays." Colleen said sarcastically.

"If there's one thing we agree on, agent Nadeem, it's the greater good." Matt said. "Like house incarceration in exchange for good intel. Sometimes, people like us have to hurt one person to save another."

"Give us his name and we might be able to stop him." Elektra said. "And the woman with him, the one in black hood, don't even think about arresting her, trust me, there's only one way to stop here."

"And Mary Walker, Shades Alvarez and Billy Russo, they're best off behind bars. Somewhere where they can't hurt anyone, ever again." Colleen said as Ray considered.

"I need your word that you won't touch him." Ray said.

"Why would you take our word for it?" Danny questioned.

"I need to hear you give it." Ray insisted.

"Well, we need you to testify against Fisk, so you got it." Matt said.

Ray nodded. "We're gonna slip into his place. Look for any evidence that ties him to the Bulletin attack or to Fisk. If we find any, we leave it where it is. And we set off his fire alarm on our way out."

"The fire department shows up, you'll have a reason to search the apartment." Elektra realized where was Ray going with this.

"But if we don't find anything, the guy goes on with his life." Ray continued.

"Just tell us who he is." Colleen snapped.

Ray sighed before giving up. "Special Agent Ben Poindexter."

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

After talking to Dex and deciding to give him a chance, Julie was going back into her apartment as Fisk observed through the monitors in his apartment as his fixers shot her in the head and started to get rid of the body.

* * *

**_Later, FBI_ **

Dex was going back into the work, still disturbed before he followed Ray into the conference room as there was a middle-aged woman waiting for them.

"Dex, this is my friend, Andrea Morales." Ray introduced them as Dex shook his hands with her. "She's an attorney. The guys took up a collection to pay for Andy's services. Now, if you're up for it, she's going to sue the bureau for wrongful suspension on your behalf."

"She can do that?" Dex asked, surprised.

"I can." Morales nodded. "And having reviewed the details of your case, I fully believe that I should."

"She's on a retainer, starting now." Ray said.

"And I'm not cheap." Morales supplied. "The guys must really like you, Agent Poindexter."

"You've had my back through all this?" Dex turned to Ray, surprised. "I don't know how to thank you."

Ray nodded. "The guy that saved our lives doesn't ever have to thank us for anything. Well, figure out the next steps and… I can't wait to have you back on the team." He patted Dex before leaving.

* * *

**_Later, New York_ **

Matt opened the window of Dex's apartment as he, Elektra, Danny and Colleen entered and opened the door for Ray as he had in his hand a flashlight.

"You find anything?" Ray asked as he closed the door.

"He's neat. He likes order." Matt said.

"So does my wife but she wouldn't fit in your suit." Ray quipped as they were searching the apartment. "Everything I have on Dex is circumstantial at best. I just left him. He was solid. I don't see a decorated FBI agent falling for Fisk's bullshit."

"Yeah, that's what Fisk does. Finds a weakness, hits it hard." Matt said.

"I know people like him. They force you on your knees, push you into so much despair, you have no other choice than to listen to them." Colleen added as Ray saw the shattered photo of Dex in suicide hotline with his colleagues.

"He has issues." Danny pointed out as he saw the hole in a wall that Dex punched into.

Matt sniffed. "The suit's here, I can smell it."

"Wait, you can smell it?" Ray asked, disbelieved.

"You'd be surprised what he can do." Elektra shrugged.

Matt went towards a closet as he opened it, noticing a safe behind clothes on a hanger. "GSR and latex."

"Shit, I can't call a crew to crack that." Ray swore as he saw the safe.

"You don't have to." Elektra said as Matt started opening the safe.

"Wait, you can do that?" Ray said, surprised at Matt's skills.

"Not if you keep talking, I can't."

* * *

_**FBI** _

Morales had told Dex that she could get him reinstated in six months with back pay but Dex did not have the patience to wait for six months before her phone rang as she left to answer the call, leaving Dex alone in the conference room as he picked his phone and wrote a text to Julie.

" _Can we talk?_ "

" _I never want to see you again. Please leave me alone._ " The replying message wrote.

Dex replied back, desperate. " _Please Julie._ "

Then he got an automated message. " _You are sending a message from a number that has been BLOCKED._ "

Dex breathed heavily in desperation as he tried to call her. The phone rang for a while before there was an automated response. " _This number has been blocked._ "

The call then disconnected as Dex continued panting and his hands trembled as he was losing it.

* * *

_**Dex's apartment** _

" _Have you been doing our exercises?_ " Mercer asked a younger Dex in the recordings which now Matt, Danny, Colleen, Elektra and Ray were listening to.

" _Yes, but then the neighbor brought home a box of stray kittens. They were in the yard. I killed them with rocks, Dr. Mercer. I tried not to, but I liked it._ " Younger Dex said as Matt went to the closet again.

"Jesus..." Colleen muttered, disturbed.

"So the guy has issues. Serious issues." Ray shrugged. "But that doesn't mean…"

Matt gestured for him to be quiet as he listened to noises outside. "He's here. You should go." Matt said suddenly as he heard footsteps and a familiar heartbeat.

"No, no, we had a deal. No evidence, you don't touch him." Ray reminded, trying to stop him.

"We found evidence." Danny pointed out.

"The kind that holds up in court." Ray protested.

"We can't let him have that suit." Colleen snapped.

"You gave me your word." Ray reminded.

"Yeah, well, we're taking it back." Matt said.

* * *

Dex heard some muffled voices outside his apartment as he walked towards a chandelier and picked some crystals before he carefully opened the door to his apartment. He then realized someone had broken into his apartment as he picked a binocular and a gun from his safe. He went to look outside the window as Matt, Elektra, Danny, Colleen and Ray had snuck into an apartment across Dex's right above his own.

* * *

"We'll never get another chance like that." Matt said.

"What if you're wrong?" Ray pointed out.

"He can't be wrong." Danny said before Matt heard cocking of a gun and tackled Ray to the floor as Danny, Colleen and Elektra took cover, while Dex fired at them.

"The shot came across the alley." Ray said.

"I think it came from downstairs." Matt protested. He was about to peek outside before he heard another gunshot and took cover as the bullet ricocheted off a couch, destroying a nearby lamp. "He's ricocheting the bullets."

"Who's this guy, a male version of Maki?" Danny snapped.

"Go for the front door." Ray ordered.

"He's by the window, he's waiting for a better shot." Matt protested.

"How do you know?" Ray wondered. Matt threw some newspapers into the air as a distraction, while Dex took a shot. Matt used that to take cover behind a bookcase.

"He's only got three more rounds." Matt said. "I'm gonna tell you when he reloads and then you gotta go."

"He's not calling for backup." Ray realized.

"No. And he won't." Matt nodded as he got up. "But the neighbor called 9-1-1."

"God damn it, Dex." Ray cursed.

The mirror shattered as Dex opened fire again. "OK, now, go, go, go!"

Ray ran out from the apartment as Dex saw a glimpse of him in the shattered mirror. He was about to approach the apartment through the fire escape but Matt kicked him down and used a trash lid as a shield as Dex threw the glass crystals at him, while he, Elektra, Danny and Colleen ran and the police approached Dex.

"Police! Hands in the air!"

Dex raised his hands in surrender. "I'm FBI! I have ID! If you look in my pocket, you'll find my wallet." The policeman checked his pockets. "Some armed suspects broke into my home."

* * *

_**Presidential Hotel** _

Agent Wellers let Karen in as she confronted Fisk. "You gotta be kidding me." She said in disgust, seeing the luxury in which Fisk was living in.

"Miss Page." Fisk said from upstairs, in his white suit as she turned around, while he walked downstairs. "I must admit, I'm surprised you're here."

"I suppose this qualifies as hard time?" Karen drawled.

"Yes, I'm sure all of this is offensive to you, given our personal history." Fisk agreed.

"You mean the times you tried to have me killed?" Karen shrugged.

"Crimes, for which I'm still paying." Fisk said.

"Yes, it's offensive." Karen said sarcastically as Fisk turned around to face her.

"Tea?" He offered politely.

"No, thank you. I'm not here for tea." Karen declined.

Fisk passed by her as he offered her to take a seat. "Sit down. You came for words at least."

Karen and Fisk sat at the table. "Yeah, let's… let's have some words." She said nervously.

"You are not writing an article about my mother." Fisk warned.

"I'm not? I could." Karen taunted.

"To what end, Miss Page? My distress?" Fisk mocked.

"Hmm, doesn't actually sound that bad, when you say it." Karen said, trying to provoke him.

"I do not welcome intrusions into my privacy." Fisk said with gritted teeth.

"Yet you invited me in?" Karen questioned.

"You worked for Ben Urich, didn't you?" Fisk reminded. "I believe he mentored you."

"Yes, before he was murdered." Karen nodded.

"A final lesson. One you seem  _not_  to have understood." Fisk said as Karen glanced at the camera above, hoping that her plan would work.

"Is that a threat?" Karen challenged.

"It's an observation." Fisk corrected.

"Well, you're right. I'm not here to talk about your mother." Karen said. "I'd rather talk about what she told Ben. Actually, really, rather, what she told us." Fisk glowered as Karen's taunts were getting to him slowly. "See, I don't think you know but I was with him. It probably wasn't fair. Two trained journalists working on a feeble old woman like that. It's easy to push her, get her to say things she doesn't want to."

"Your point?" Fisk asked calmly, although his patience was reaching its limits.

"She remembered a lot about your childhood. They say the oldest memories stick around the longest." Karen said as Fisk turned away briefly before turning to her again. "She remembered a lot of little things, a lot of… embarrassing things. Seems like there were a lot of those, weren't there, Willie?"

"I'm sure your readers at the  _Bulletin_  will be as entertained as you are." Fisk replied.

"No, we would never print those, we just pass them around the office." Karen said.

"How is it around your office? I heard about your misfortune." Fisk taunted.

"Before it even happened, I'm sure." Karen said, not falling for Fisk's false sympathies. "No, the story that we will print, is her very detailed description about your father and how you murdered him." Fisk inhaled sharply, caught off-guard briefly. "A hammer. At that age?" Fisk seethed but tried to stay calm. "Is there any part of you that isn't broken, I wonder?" Fisk turned to her as the phrase ' _if looks could kill_ ' came to mind as he gave her a fierce, deadly glare, which only satisfied Karen that she was getting under his skin. Fisk glanced at the camera above, realizing Karen's intentions before he calmed down as he took deep breaths to calm down.

Karen glowered but regained her brave face as she considered trying a different tactic.

"You asked me, why I let you in." Fisk said. "The reason is, Miss Page, I have a few questions of my own. You are a respected journalist but at one time, you were merely a secretary at a law firm. To Matt Murdock, yes?"

"Office manager." Karen corrected.

"Intimately involved in his affairs, huh?" Fisk continued.

"His business affairs." Karen said.

"Of course." Fisk nodded. "Tell me, so at what point did you learn about Mr. Murdock's secret life?" Karen paled, caught off-guard and giving Fisk a shocked look, which was everything Fisk needed as he smiled, satisfied by her reaction. "Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Page."

Karen now felt deep guilt and painful feeling in her stomach from the feeling that she had unintentionally revealed Matt's secret to Fisk, although she did not know that Maki had already told Fisk that already and only wanted for Karen to feel guilty.

Karen took a moment to compose herself, trying another tactic again as she put on a brave face. "OK, you want secrets? I can tell you a secret, Wilson. Is it OK if I call you that? I feel like we know each other well enough by now."

"As you wish, Karen." Fisk said.

"Great. James Wesley." Karen got to the point. "What was it like for you, when he disappeared? Really, it's those first 24 hours that are the worst, aren't they? When you call and you call and there's just no answer. It becomes an obsession." Fisk's face twitched as Karen realized she was getting under his skin. "The calling, the never-ending loop of a ghost's voicemail in your ear. You worry. You wonder. You swear, " _God damn it, if he's still living, I'm gonna kill him myself._ "" Fisk glowered, looking like a steaming kettle full of boiled water that was about to explode. "Is that what it was like for you? Did you rage at him? Because you thought he betrayed you? Because I wonder what would be worse for you, his duplicity or his death?" Fisk breathed shakily, his face twitching rapidly as he was near to exploding as Karen lowered her voice. "He died quickly, if you were wondering. Didn't suffer much. You see, Wilson, Matt Murdock isn't the person you should be worried about. I killed Wesley." Fisk's lips quivered as he seethed and gave Karen a fierce murderous glare full of relentless rage and hate. "I shot him seven times because the clip ran out. He deserved more."

Finally reaching his breaking point, Fisk roared in rage as he got up and Karen paled and gapped in fear, realizing she had pushed too hard.

"Don't move!" Agent Wellers ordered as he entered, stopping Fisk from whatever murderous intentions he had with Karen. Wellers grabbed Karen and pinned her to the desk as she screamed in pain and Wellers cuffed her.

"What?" Karen gapped as the remaining agents led Fisk away from Karen before the situation would escalate further, while he shot Karen one last fierce glare before she saw Foggy at the door to Fisk's suite.

"What? Foggy?" Karen asked, not understanding.

"Think of it as a compliment." Foggy drawled as he accompanied Karen outside.

"They actually thought I would try to kill him?" Karen scoffed.

"I had to tell them something." Foggy pointed out.

"No, Foggy, you didn't!" Karen exploded as she whirled on him. "You ruined it! I had him!"

" _Had him_?" Foggy scoffed. "Fisk would snap you like a twig."

"Well, at least they'd have it on video." Karen said as she called the elevator.

"Was that really your plan?" Foggy asked in disbelief. "God damn it, Karen, don't turn into Matt on me."

Karen sighed. "Look, I didn't want him to kill me. Just come after me."

"Oh, good." Foggy said sarcastically.

"Well, I got the idea from you." Karen pointed out.

" _Me_?" Foggy asked, not understanding.

"All that talk about Tower and catching him off-guard and I thought, " _Yeah, just get Fisk to stop thinking and reacting emotionally instead._ "" Karen said.

"I figured you were thinking something like that. Not a bad plan, actually." Foggy admitted. "Except for the part, where you have to hope the FBI comes in before that monster beats you to death."

"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" Karen grumbled as the elevator opened and she and Foggy entered. "How did you know I was here?"

"I know you. When you didn't come, I thought of some possibilities and this was my nightmare scenario, so I pretty much counted on it." Foggy explained.

"At least I took my shot." Karen shrugged.

"You took a shot. Tomorrow, there's gonna be an army shooting back." Foggy warned her.

* * *

"You seem angry, Mr. Fisk." Maki said.

"You could never understand." Fisk growled.

"I understand loss. Pain." Maki nodded. "I'm very familiar with it."

Dex then entered the monitor room as Manning accompanied him. He had filled Fisk and Maki in on that Ray was onto him. Fisk egged onto Dex as he screamed in rage, while Maki smirked in satisfaction.

Later, Fisk answered the call as his phone rang. "Yes?"

" _I got your money. And my contacts found it. Right now, they're trying to refine it in a lab as we speak. Mr. Alvarez is looking forward to take back his turf._ "

"Excellent. You will get your next payment soon enough, Mr. Russo, alongside with Miss Walker." Fisk said.

* * *

_**FBI** _

Barney called Ray as he was looking at his watch. "Is everything OK, Ray?"

" _Yeah. Look, I don't want to talk about this on the phone but I think there might be a problem in the bureau._ "

"What's going on, Ray?" Barney asked.

" _I'll explain later. Just trust me._ " Ray said as he hung up, while Barney sighed.

"And here I thought Woo has problems with Lang back in San Francisco." Barney grumbled before his phone rang as he picked it up.

* * *

"Where are you going, Agent Bernard?" Hattley asked as Barney put on his jacket.

"Family emergency, I gotta go." Barney said.

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

"He didn't have any parents." Matt said as he listened to the recording of Dex's therapy sessions, while Danny and Colleen were out on patrol. "Spent a lot of time fighting. Angry."

"Hmmm." Maggie nodded.

"Go ahead and say it." Matt said.

"I promised to keep my mouth shut." Maggie pointed out.

"But you want to say it sounds familiar." Matt argued.

"Does it?" Maggie protested.

"I didn't have anyone either but I'm nothing like him." Matt said. "The tapes make it sounds like he was a killer at a young age, the guy's a psychopath. And I had a chance today. A shot to catch him off-guard and I blew it."

"You did what you thought was right." Maggie said. "You kept your word to Agent Nadeem."

"Yeah." Matt said. "And how many people will die because of it?"

* * *

Maggie approached the altar as she started to pray. "I don't know if I have the strength to get through this. He's so stubborn. Full of fury and foolish pride. Please, watch over him. Keep him from making the same damned mistake that took you from us. Our son is too much like you, Jack."

* * *

In the meantime, Matt was in the basement, punching the boxing bag and venting out his frustration and listening Maggie's prayers and until he stopped and heard the last sentence and mixed feelings of shock, disbelief, betrayal and confusion took him over.

"Matthew? Is everything alright?" Elektra asked, worried as Matt trembled.

"Mom?" Matt whispered. "No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wondering what are Fisk, Russo and Shades up to? Just wait.
> 
> Hope you liked the reference to Ant-Man and the Wasp and you'll see Barney later, just wait.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	9. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt processes the shocking revelation as he attempts to take down Fisk. In the meantime, Fisk gathers larger army while Barney visits someone, asking for his help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Father Lantom was playing pool in a bar as Matt approached him, clearly angry. "Did you know, Father?"

Lantom turned around, surprised to see Matt. "Matthew. What are you doing here?"

"Did you know she was my mother?" Matt demanded angrily and Lantom sighed, not even trying to deny it. "Yeah. You knew."

"I couldn't tell you." Lantom attempted to explain. "Even when I wanted to."

"Don't hide behind your collar, Father." Matt said.

"Wait. You're a priest?" The man with whom Lantom was playing, asked.

"Take your money and go." Lantom told the man. The man picked the cash from the pool table and his jacket before leaving the bar as Lantom leaned onto the table. "I'm not hiding, Matthew. I'm right here."

"You… of all people. All those times I looked to you for guidance." Matt said and Lantom avoided looking at his angry face. "You saw me struggle and you chose to hide the one thing that could have changed everything for me. Please, Father, help me understand why you would do that."

"I prayed for Maggie to find it in herself to tell you years ago." Lantom said.

"She couldn't find it in herself to walk nine blocks to visit me as a kid." Matt growled. "Or to comfort me, when my father was murdered and I thought that I… I knew that I was alone in this world."

"You were never alone…"

"Yes, I was!" Matt snapped and Lantom again found himself unable to look at him. "And you let me believe it."

"Yes. Yes, we did." Lantom admitted, ashamed.

"Then why?" Matt asked.

"What did Maggie say?" Lantom inquired.

"I'm asking you." Matt insisted.

"Maggie's a good person, Matthew. Flawed, like us all." Lantom attempted to explain. "And tortured decisions she's made. But she dedicated her life to making amends."

"You still haven't answered the question." Matt said.

"Growing up without your parents, Matthew, you don't grow to see them as people. You need to understand that. To understand her." Lantom said before he started to tell Matt about how his parents met. Maggie had visited a boxing match to see Battlin' Jack Murdock and she had become attracted to him, until they both had eventually fallen in love and conceived Matt. But eventually, Maggie suffered from postpartum depression, believing she had turned away from God as she returned to the church with Lantom to work as a nun, leaving Matt in Jack's care.

"Damn, I don't know what I should've done." Lantom admitted. "I guess that's not really true."

"You know, when I heard Maggie call me her son, my thought… my first thought… was how stupid I'd been. That it had been in front of me for so long." Matt said. "And then I remembered that it had been in front of you for even longer. From… the beginning. We've talked so much about truth, you and I. Of my truth. God's truth. Now it seems like all those conversations were just a goddamned lie." He got up and put his hand on Lantom's shoulder and nearing his ear. "Shame on you." Matt whispered before leaving and Lantom was left alone to contemplate his actions.

* * *

**_New York_ **

Ray entered Hattley's house as Supervisory Special Agent Winn of the Office of Professional Responsibility was inside too as they sat down at the table.

"Sorry about the mess, my contractor promised he would be done months ago." Hattley said as most of her furniture was covered in plastic and started to prepare coffee. "How do you take it?"

"Black is fine, thanks." Winn said as he put down his jacket and sat down.

"None for me." Ray declined.

"Thanks." Winn said as Hattley handed him a mug of coffee and he pulled out and turned on a recorder, while Ray sat down. "Interview with Special Agent Rahul Nadeem and Special Agent in Charge Tammy Hattley, conducted by Supervisory Special Agent Winn, FBI Office of Professional Responsibility."

"OK, Ray, you've got our attention." Hattley said.

"What's this about?" Winn asked.

"There's no good way for me to say this." Ray said, disturbed. "But I believe Wilson Fisk is currently engaged in a criminal conspiracy and has manipulated the bureau into becoming his unwitting accomplice. I also have reason to believe that Fisk has corrupted an agent on his detail."

"Who?" Hattley inquired.

"Dex." Ray replied.

"You're referring to Special Agent Ben Poindexter?" Winn realized.

"Yes, sir." Ray nodded. "And as crazy as it sounds, I think Poindexter may have perpetrated the attack at the Bulletin."

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would you think that?" Winn questioned, wondering if Ray was insane.

"Because while I was pursuing those suspicions yesterday, Dex shot me." Ray showed the wound on his hip as Winn looked shocked.

"Jesus Christ." Winn said.

"Sir, OPR needs to start an internal investigation into Fisk, into Poindexter, into all of it. And for the record, this was on my watch." Ray said. "I personally ran Fisk's detail. SAC Hattley did everything by-the-book and this shouldn't fall on her." He briefly glanced towards Hattley, who was seething and glaring. "I take full responsibility."

"Ray, I'm sorry but I'm placing you on administrative leave, effective immediately." Hattley said.

"I understand." Ray nodded. "And I will cooperate fully." He pulled out his gun and badge, putting them on desk and handing them to Hattley. "So, what do we do next?"

"First, we call you an ambulance." Winn said, when suddenly… BANG! Ray looked shocked as Winn gagged, holding his bleeding throat as Winn turned to Hattley, who was holding Ray's gun before she shot Winn in the head, killing him.

"No!" Ray shouted as he shot up from the desk.

"Ray! Put down the gun! Please!" Hattley exclaimed, sounding frightened before she turned off the recorder as she glared at him. "Damn you, Ray, you bring this into my house? My home?! Sit down." Ray still looked shocked, trying to process what just happened. "Sit." Hattley insisted, aiming the gun at him as Ray slowly complied, wondering what kind of mess did he get himself into before Manning appeared, holding a plastic bag.

"Your prints. Your weapon. Your recording. Do I need to explain to you what this means?" Manning said as Hattley put Ray's gun and the recorder into the bag. "Answer my question. Do you understand your situation now?"

"Ray? You get this?" Hattley demanded as Ray was rooted to the chair, his mind still processing what just happened as he turned to her.

"Yeah, boss. I understand." Ray said, frightened.

"I'm not your boss anymore. Wilson Fisk is." Hattley said.

* * *

_**Fogwell's Gym** _

"It's a shitty way for you to find out, Matty. About your mother." Jack told him as Matt was looking into his locker.

"Yeah, you should've told me." Matt snapped.

"Maybe I promised her that I wouldn't." Jack pointed out.

"That is no excuse." Matt said.

"Yeah, I know, kid." Jack sighed. "But after I took that bullet, Maggie had years to tell you the truth and she didn't. That wasn't my choice, it was hers."

"You both lied, you both left." Matt said before he started to smash a lock with a stick.

"I  _never_  left you!" Jack shot back.

"You didn't go down in that fight like you were supposed to, knowing they'd kill you for it." Matt pointed out.

"I did that  _for_ you, so you'd know what your old man is made of." Jack said.

"My old man chose his ego over a lifetime with his son, that's what I know." Matt drawled.

"It wasn't ego, it was living up to a code." Jack protested. "Being a man. It means loving the feel of my fist in someone else's face. It means waiting for them to hit the ground and knowing that  _I_  put them there. And, yeah, OK, maybe I put that at the top of my list and maybe it cost me everything, including you. But you do the same thing."

"No. I don't." Matt denied.

"You have a code too. You beat the shit out of people." Jack said as Matt pulled out a rope. "You tell yourself it's OK because you didn't kill anyone. There is something wrong with us, Matty. It's just who we are."

"That's who you were, Dad. I'm not like you." Matt said as he sat down, wrapping the ropes around his hands. "And I don't let everyone else suffer because of some bullshit code. Not anymore. When I get to Fisk, I'm gonna kill him."

* * *

**_Clinton Church_ **

Maggie was outside the church, looking after the orphaned children before Karen approached her, wearing a hoodie.

"Excuse me, Sister Maggie?" Maggie turned to Karen. "I'm sorry to bother you, they told me I could find you here."

"He's gone. I don't know where." Maggie said.

Karen sighed. "It's a matter of life and death. Do you have any idea when he'll be back?"

"He won't be." Maggie told her.

"I… I don't understand. Why not?" Karen asked, confused.

Maggie took a breath before telling Karen. "He learned the truth. That I'm his mother."

Karen gave Maggie a shocked look of disbelief. "Wow. He never talked about… about you."

"I was a danger to Matthew, when I gave him up." Maggie admitted. "Nowadays, they know a great deal about postpartum but… at the time… I was convinced that I was betraying God. I hadn't yet taken my vows but in my heart, I believed I had committed an unforgivable sin. And so, I replaced that sin with another. I abandoned my child."

"Why… why did you tell him now?" Karen wondered, not understanding.

"I didn't, he found out on his own." Maggie explained. "I wanted to tell him. When Jack was alive, I convinced myself the truth would confuse Matthew. After Jack died, I convinced myself it would do more harm than good. Finally, I just realized that I was too much of a coward. The Lord has a way. Sending the Devil of Hell's Kitchen to me now. Showing me what became of my sin. The Lord gave me another chance to make things right. And I failed, yet again. Matthew knows who and what I am now. He won't be back." Karen suddenly felt a lot of sympathy towards Matt and guilt regarding how she had treated him. "I'm sorry. It's unfair of me to burden you."

"I just… I don't… I don't know what to say." Karen said.

"What can you say to someone, who's scarred your friend for life?" Maggie asked rhetorically. "He must be in a lot of pain right now. When you find him, he'll need a friend."

"That's just it, I can't really stick around." Karen said, briefly looking around. "Fisk knows, about Matt. I just wanted to warn him before I run."

"Are you in danger?" Maggie realized.

"Yeah." Karen nodded. "Matt's not the only one that Fisk wants dead."

"Do you have someplace to go?" Maggie inquired.

"No, I was just gonna get the first bus out of town." Karen said.

"I can help you." Maggie offered and Karen laughed humorlessly.

"Yeah, no, you don't want me anywhere near you right now, trust me." Karen shook her head.

"The church has been helping people hide for two-thousand years. Hide here." Maggie said as Karen was looking around, freaked out by any immediate danger. "Give me a few days to make a few calls and you'll have shelter halfway around the world by the end of the week. Please, let me do something for you. For Matthew."

"Yeah." Karen gave in, nodding.

* * *

While Barney was visiting his family, Ray was forced into a unit, which comprised of agents who had been compromised by Fisk as they started to apprehend all criminals and crime lords, who would've compromised Fisk's operations and Ray was disturbed by Dex's increasing brutality.

* * *

**_Fogwell's Gym_ **

Matt was punching a bag before he heard his phone ring and answered the call. "Yeah?"

" _Fisk has left the hotel._ " Ray said.

"How is that possible?" Matt wondered, considering that Fisk was on house arrest.

" _I don't think Dex was the only FBI agent he turned._ " Ray explained. " _But he's taking Fisk to meet with other crime bosses. Some kind of sit-down_."

"Where?" Matt asked.

" _I'm texting you the address. But if you catch Fisk in the act…_ "

"This is our chance to take him down. Thank you, Nadeem." Matt hung up before his phone "read" the text with the address.

"You're not falling for that, are you?" Jack asked. "That guy, he ain't in your corner. Not anymore."

"That doesn't matter." Matt said.

"It's been a long time since you used Muay Thai ropes, Matty." Jack said.

"That guy in my suit kicked my ass. I can't beat him from a distance." Matt said, cracking the bones in his hands. "I gotta draw him in close and do more damage."

"You're too mad to think straight and it's gonna get you killed. Matty, come on." Jack pleaded as Matt kept on exercising. "Your mother didn't only leave you, she left me too."

"You're looking for sympathy? Because that's not happening." Matt retorted.

"She left us because we're cursed." Jack continued as Matt chuckled. "Because she knew we got the devil inside."

"So, it's my fault?" Matt scoffed.

"Would you be honest with yourself?" Jack asked and Matt sighed before taking deep breaths. "You put on that mask because it lets you feel alright with who you really are. It lets you hurt people and it makes you feel like it's for something important…"

"…something good, maybe even for God." Fisk continued as Matt's blood boiled. "But that ain't truth and we both know it. You and your father are cut from the same cloth. A corrupt boxer, who takes as much satisfaction in inflicting pain as he does money for taking dives." Matt cracked his knuckles, getting angrier by Fisk's taunts. "And his son, who's trying to convince himself he's any better than his criminal father. You were born from nothing. You  _remain_  nothing!"

Having enough of it, Matt imagined screaming in rage and beating Fisk into a bloody pulp and snapping his neck before his thoughts returned to the present.

* * *

_**Elsewhere** _

Fisk and Ray went to a meeting in underground with other crime lords, demanding a share of their protection money. One of the crime lords declined before Dexdevil threw the billy club at his head, cracking the skull and immediately killing the crime lord as his head lifelessly fell to the table. And much to the horror of Ray and other crime lords, from the shadows appeared Maki Matsumoto, Shades Alvarez, Mary Walker and Billy Russo, forcing them to give into Fisk's terms.

* * *

In another part, Davos, topless and cuts on his body, was in chains as he seemed dead. One of the ninjas of the Hand approached him, measuring his heartbeat. As he was freeing Davos, suddenly Davos grabbed the ninja and snapped his neck before stealing his knife and cutting his head off.

* * *

**_Harlem_ **

"Luke." Sugar said as he threw towards him an FBI agent. "You gotta hear this."

"What do you want?" Luke asked.

* * *

After some threatening, the agent told Luke about Fisk rounding up the criminals as Luke neared him and warned him. "Tell Fisk Harlem never let you in. If you tell him you told me, I'm gonna make you wish Fisk had killed you."

The agent nodded fearfully before leaving.

"What are you gonna do?" Sugar asked.

"Take care of things here for me. I'll be out of Harlem for a while." Luke said and Sugar nodded. "Should've paid more attention to New York, I was an idiot."

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Matt snuck into the hotel, approaching a fuse box and turning off the lights in Fisk's suite before sneaking past the agents, who were on patrol. He opened the door into the bedroom before he sensed electrical current under the floor and realizing there was a hidden door behind the shoe rack. Matt opened it and went downstairs, noticing a frightened woman at the monitors.

"Are you gonna kill me?" The woman asked fearfully.

"No." Matt said. "Not you."

"Fisk? And the other woman?" The woman asked as she turned around, wearing Fisk's ankle monitor as Matt nodded. "Oh, thank God." She breathed out in relief.

"When will they be back?"

"Minutes." The woman said as the power turned back on.

"Thank you." Matt said.

" _Karen Page located at the Clinton Church. Keep all NYPD units clear of that location until otherwise advised. Copy?_ " One of the agents on Fisk's monitors said into the radio.

"What does Fisk want with Karen?" Matt wondered.

"He wants to kill her." The woman said, much to Matt's shock.

* * *

_**New York** _

Danny and Colleen were out on patrol as they noticed someone beating up some lowlife punks in an alley.

"Hey!" Colleen exclaimed as she jumped down from above and then she and Danny looked in shock to see who it was.

"Davos?" Danny asked, seeing how bloodied he was. "My God, what…"

"Danny… you were right. You were right all along." Davos said, slowly passing out from his injuries.

* * *

Dexdevil, Maki, Russo, Walker and Shades and ninjas of the Hand and some veterans that Russo had recruited, were outside the church, preparing to kill Karen.

* * *

_**Missouri** _

Clint Barton was training archery with his daughter Lila before they saw a black SUV approach his homestead and from it went out Barney as Lila and Clint laughed.

"Uncle Barney!" Lila laughed, hugging Barney tightly.

"Hey." Barney smiled, fondling her hair.

"What are you doing here?" Clint smiled hugging his brother. "Is everything OK?"

"No." Barney said. "It's not. I made some calls to the brass. I need your help, Clint. I need you in New York."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you'll enjoy what happens next. Didn't expect Barney to recruit Clint? If you're confused, Barney is a Fed, so I figured he might be able to pull some strings to get Clint out of house arrest to help.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	10. The Fight in the Church

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Defenders reform as they attempt to stop Fisk's assassination attempt on Karen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Danny and Colleen were on a patrol before they met Davos.

"The Hand…" Davos whispered. "You were right. I was a fool. I should've listened to you."

"What happened?" Danny asked, worried about his foster brother.

"The Hand, they were examining my chi and…"

Colleen's phone rang as she answered the call. "Matt?"

" _Colleen, you need to find Karen, now, Fisk wants to kill her!_ " Matt ordered.

"Shit." Colleen swore as she hung up.

"What's going on?" Danny asked.

"We gotta move, now! Get Davos help, Matt needs my help!" Colleen ordered.

"OK, I'll bring you to Claire, she'll patch you up." Danny said as Davos nodded.

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

Fisk and Ray drove Dexdevil, Maki, Walker, Shades and Russo to the church as they interrupted the sermon, much to the attendees' shock as Dex passed down the church.

"Where is Karen Page?" Dex asked as Karen hid in the shadows, horrified. Dex hit the nearby man with his billy club as Karen covered her mouth, muffling her screams before Russo, Shades and Walker shot at the seats, causing for the civilians to scatter in panic. They tried to escape into the crypt area with Father Lantom but the door was locked.

Karen showed up from the shadows, raising her hands. "I'm here! I'm here. Please. No, please, no, no." She stepped up in front of the civilians as the criminals and assassins neared them.

"Hello, Karen." Dexdevil said. "It's nice to see you again."

Suddenly, he was knocked down from behind by Matt as Shades, Walker and Russo turned around, opening fire but Frank, Danny, Colleen and Elektra took cover behind the seats.

Matt engaged Dex and slammed his head to a nearby seat before he punched Dex and kicked him in the face, knocking him down.

Danny pulled out his pistols and fired chi rounds, destroying some of the bullets Shades, Walker and Russo fired, while Colleen channeled her chi into her katana and sliced through the bullets. She rushed at them but Maki jumped and kicked Colleen back as she stumbled. She pulled out her own katana as she started to fence with Colleen.

Elektra pulled out her sais as Walker blocked Elektra's attacks with her machetes. Walker aimed at Elektra's head but Elektra dodged and kicked Walker back as she fell towards the benches. Elektra tried to attack again but to her surprise, Walker grabbed her and threw her away like a paper doll as she slid down the floor.

Elektra quickly recovered as Walker pulled out a syringe of sedative but Elektra disarmed her and threw her down. As Walker attempted to get up, Elektra punched her, knocking her out.

Dex grabbed a nearby civilian as a human shield but Matt kicked him away and then kicked him in the face. Dex grabbed Matt's leg and threw him against the candles stand as it crashed. Dex hit Matt in the head with a billy club, dazing him.

As Russo and Shades were reloading, Frank shot a chandelier above them as it fell down, causing for Shades and Russo to move away.

Colleen sliced through the blade of Maki's sword with her katana charged with chi and attempted to cut her head off but Maki dodged and threw Colleen's katana away from her hands before they traded blows. Colleen blocked Maki's punches before Maki kicked her in her chest as Colleen staggered back.

Before Maki could land another kick, Danny jumped in, kicking Maki in her face, knocking her down but Maki quickly recovered. Danny and Colleen engaged her again as Maki blocked and dodged their attacks.

As the others were too distracted by fighting each other, Dex faced Karen as she closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come.

Dex threw the billy club at Karen before, to their shock, Lantom stepped up, taking the billy club into his chest.

Matt roared in rage as he tackled Dex, who was about to kill his friend and instead delivered a killing blow, to the man Matt had considered his father figure.

Lantom was bleeding on the ground as Karen hold him before they saw Matt pummel Dex in rage, while Lantom looked at him, sad that he had given into his anger. "Matthew…" He whispered softly as Matt stopped. "Please, forgive us." Lantom said weakly before he drew his last breath.

This caused for Matt to wake up from his moment of rage but Dex used the distraction to kick Matt away, sending him down on the floor.

Luke and Jessica burst in, seeing the havoc.

"What the hell…" Jessica whispered.

"Shades!" Luke shouted as Shades and Russo turned around, shooting at Luke but were unable to pierce his impenetrable skin before they decided to retreat, realizing they were outnumbered.

Colleen threw a punch that Maki blocked before kicking her in the stomach and hitting her in the face. Maki dodged as Danny aimed at her head with his Iron Fist before she jumped, knocking both Danny and Colleen down as she kicked them in their chests, knocking them both down.

Maki pulled out needles, about to finish them off before she dodged a shuriken that Elektra threw towards her. As Maki noticed Luke and Jessica, she realized she was outnumbered as she decided to retreat.

"Fall back!" Maki ordered. Russo pulled out a flashbang grenade and threw it in the air, stunning everyone and as Elektra, Danny, Colleen, Luke, Jessica and Matt recovered, the villains had vanished.

Matt knocked Dex down before he heard Karen's whispers. "Matt. I can get everyone out. But you have to get them away from the nave." She instructed.

Matt grabbed Dex, picking him up and headbutting him and throwing him away. Dex rolled away as Matt was about to engage him again, throwing a Bible and candles as Matt blocked. Dex threw a statue down but Matt dodged before kicking Dex in the leg as he fell down. Dex grabbed Matt by his arm as they both fell down, while Karen was trying to sneak everyone to safety.

Dex saw Karen and picked a piece of the shattered statue. Karen gasped in horror and took cover, while Matt threw a piece of rubble at Dex, disarming him. Matt punched Dex in the head before throwing him against a wooden wall as it crashed before Matt jumped, landing a kick at Dex's chest as Dex crashed into the confessional.

Matt grabbed Dex and pinned him to the wall but Dex dodged as Matt punched through the wall. Matt threw Dex towards the alley in the middle in between the seats. Dex got up but Matt kicked him in the chest as he staggered back. Matt blocked Dex's punches and threw him against a bench.

Dex picked a Bible and a piece of wood as his weapons before Karen rushed down the alley. Dex threw a billy club but Matt knocked his arm, causing for him to miss as Karen narrowly dodged and gasped in fear.

Dex knocked Matt down as the civilians ran towards an exit. Dex picked a pew and slammed it against Matt, knocking him down towards a bench as Dex pummeled him before Karen stepped up.

"Hey! I'm the one you want, right?" Karen exclaimed as Dex turned his attention to her. He picked a crucifix necklace of beads and ripped it open, throwing beads at Karen as she fell down to take cover, while the windows behind which she was hiding, shattered.

Karen rushed to the upper balcony, hiding as Dex went looking for her as she hid among the church decorations. He heard wood creaking and turned around as injured Matt snuck up on him and they traded punches but Dex managed to gain the upper hand and throw Matt down and pummel him. Dex picked a piece of wood from the railing and was about to stab Matt but Karen showed up with a statue of crucified Jesus, hitting Dex as he fell over the railing of the balcony down on the ground floor.

She then dropped the statue and approached Matt in panic. "Oh, my God, Matt, you OK? Hey."

"I can't… I can't let them leave." Matt murmured.

"Oh, no, no." Karen panicked before she looked down but Dex had managed to escape. "Oh, shit, no, he's gone."

"Well, this is hell of a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be." Luke shrugged.

"No shit." Jessica nodded as they noticed that all criminals escaped, save for Walker, who was knocked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I handled the fight in the church well. Barney and Clint will show up later.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	11. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt, Karen and their friends attempt to escape the church and save Ray's family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Dex left the church as he went into an alley, breathing heavily and frustrated and angry that he had failed Fisk, until two men showed up, looking at the man in Daredevil's suit in shock and horror. Before they could react, Dex threw two glass bottles at their heads, instantly killing them as Dex entered Ray's car in anger.

" _All units, 10-34. Daredevil, Billy Russo and Frank Castle reported at Clinton Church. Mobilize Level 3._ " The police band on the radio in Ray's car said as Ray's face turned into one of horror, wondering what the hell did Dex do as he breathed out shakily.

" _Dispatch code 11, emergency services en route._ "

" _Dispatch 10-54 at Clinton Church, this is a multiple-casualty incident._ "

Dex entered Ray's car as Ray turned to him, angry. "What the hell did you do?"

"Get over there." Dex ordered, while taking off the Daredevil suit. "You need to assume command of the scene from the NYPD. Daredevil is a federal fugitive. And Castle, Wing and Rand and Jones need to be brought in for questioning. Lock down the church, lock down the entire area. We cannot let them escape."

"God damn it, I asked you a question, what have you done?" Ray snapped as he whirled on Dex, horrified.

"It's not done." Dex said coldly. " _We_  are not  _done_."

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

"Matt. Matt, come on, you gotta get up. You gotta get up. Please, wake up." Karen begged as Matt was unconscious on the floor.

"Is he OK?" Jessica asked as she, Frank, Elektra, Luke, Danny and Colleen approached them.

"Karen?" Matt said lowly as he came to.

"Can you sit up?" Karen asked.

"Yeah." Matt nodded.

"OK." Karen said in relief as Matt grunted in pain, while trying to get up.

"The cops and FBI have the place surrounded, we need to find some place to hide." Danny said.

"Where are they?" Matt wondered.

"They got away. But at least we got Walker." Colleen assured him.

Matt turned to Lantom's corpse as he lowered his head, while Karen hugged him in comfort. "Jesus, Father… he killed him. Karen, he killed him."

"Sorry but you gotta run. Cops are outside. You have to go now. All of you." Karen turned to them all.

"We have to run." Matt said.

"No, no. Matt, I'm gonna stray here and I'll tell the police everything." Karen said.

"Karen, the man in my suit, his name is Ben Poindexter." Matt explained and Karen paled. "He's an FBI agent. He works for Fisk. So does agent Nadeem."

"If they find you, they'll kill you." Danny explained.

"Look, we'll look for a way out. You should find a place to hide." Jessica suggested.

* * *

Matt, Karen, Danny and Elektra snuck into the crypt area, while Frank, Jessica and Colleen tried to find a way to sneak past the FBI and the police.

"Matt, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Karen said apologetically.

"Why didn't you run?" Matt snapped as he limped because of his injuries.

"Run? How could I run?" Karen demanded.

"Karen, if they find you, this was all for nothing." Elektra said before they heard the police and the FBI attempting to open the door to the crypt, much to their horror before Matt heard them leave.

"It won't hold them forever. They'll be back." Matt said.

"Is there another way out of here?" Danny inquired.

"No. I don't think so." Matt shook his head.

"Matt, you're right." Karen said as he took off his mask and leaned onto the sink. "You're right, it's my fault. I deserved the baton, not Father Lantom, I should never have come here."

"Why did you come?" Matt wondered as he cleaned the blood off his hands.

"Because Fisk knows who you are." Karen swallowed. "I wanted to warn you."

"That's what this is about?" Matt snapped. "Yeah, he already knew that." He wiped his face in frustration. "Oh, God, Karen, I had him." He sighed as he leaned onto the sink again. "I just gave up my one shot to come here and save you."

" _You had him_?" Danny repeated, much to his and Karen's confusion.

"I was in his penthouse. Waiting for him." Matt explained. "That was it. It was…" He sighed. "… the moment."

Suddenly, Elektra realized it. "Wait. Were you going to…"

"He's back." Matt said suddenly as he heard voices upstairs. "Poindexter is upstairs and he's with Nadeem."

Maggie was forced to accompany them to the crypt area as Matt, Danny, Karen and Elektra hid in the crypts, while Maggie was hoping they would not notice the blood on one of the caskets as she stood in front of it, trying to hide the blood.

"Alright, they're gone." Matt said as he was sure that they had left, while they went out from their caskets as Matt sat down. "I guess we'll just wait here until they leave."

"I didn't think I'd be a fugitive again." Danny said.

"The civilians know we tried to help them against Daredevil but with the FBI in Fisk's pocket, who knows how deep it goes, he could spin the story to frame us all." Danny realized, remembering how Harold had framed him for smuggling drugs.

Karen crossed her arms, frustrated as Matt turned to her. "Why is Fisk hunting you?"

Karen sighed. "I had a plan. Went to go see him."

"Wait, you confronted Fisk?" Elektra inquired.

"Yeah, I thought maybe I could provoke him, turn his emotions against him." Karen explained.

"To what end?" Matt asked.

"Make him attack me in front of the FBI." Karen said.

"Jesus, Karen." Matt and Danny breathed out simultaneously.

"I knew you were reckless but this is foolish even by your standards." Elektra noted.

"Yeah, don't worry, it didn't work. He…" Karen swallowed. "…caught me off-guard, asked me how long I'd known your secret. I swear I tried but… he read it in my face."

"You tried to outsmart Fisk?" Matt realized. "Provoke him into making a mistake?" He asked incredulously.

"Karen, there are people that are very calculative and cautious and are almost always ten steps ahead of you." Danny said, speaking from his recent experience with Joy and Davos.

"Fine, OK, right, you're right, I was an idiot. Sorry." Karen sighed.

"No. You were brave." Matt assured her.

"Anyway, he didn't take the bait." Karen said.

"What bait?" Elektra asked.

"I told him a secret of my own." Karen explained and sighed deeply before taking a breath, not sure how they, especially Matt, would react. "You remember that friend he had that got shot? Uh… Wesley?" Matt raised his brows, intrigued. "I killed him." She said with a broken voice as she was on verge of tears. "That's why he sent Poindexter after me. I was stupid and… reckless and now Father Lantom is dead because of it. Because of me."

Danny sighed, realizing how hard it must have been for her as he felt some sympathy, remembering he met some warriors that struggled like that back in K'un-L'un.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Matt asked, worried as she wiped her eyes.

"I don't know, you… you always treated me like I was… innocent." Karen stammered. "That was nice… it was nice that you thought of me like that."

"Bottling such things up inside you never helps, Karen. Trust me." Elektra said.

Karen got ahold of herself after a moment as she turned to Matt. "What were you gonna do to Fisk?"

"Kill him." Matt said, much to their shock. "Your turn to judge me."

"No." Karen shook her head. "No, I'm not. I get it. Trust me. It makes me sad for you."

"It has to be done." Matt said.

"Matt…" Danny sighed, remembering how he himself intended to kill Harold. "Once you touch that darkness, it never goes away. Trust me. I've been there. Colleen and Ward had to pull me back from that edge. Some lines you shouldn't cross. Ever. Because once you do, you may never find your way back."

Karen sighed. "OK, I told you why I left Vermont, OK? Why I left home. OK, see, there was a car crash. And… I killed my brother because I was… I was high and I was drunk and I was angry…"

"Jesus, Karen." Matt said lowly as he, Elektra and Danny felt a lot of sympathy for her.

"…and I shouldn't have been driving and it changed everything." Karen said with broken voice and shaky breaths. "No matter what I do, there is no atoning for that. OK? There is no way to come back from it."

"There's always a way." Danny assured her. "If you really want to change and be better. No matter how lost you are, if you really want to find redemption, you can find your way back. You just have to keep looking until you find it."

"He's right." Elektra nodded.

"What if… it is the way back for me?" Matt wondered. "I can't let Fisk go."

Danny, Elektra and Karen sighed. "Matthew… there was a time I would have wanted you to take a life for the greater good. But… once you take a life… you'll find yourself turning into someone you don't even recognize anymore." Elektra said. "And good people like you don't deserve to go through it."

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Fisk and Donovan were in front of the hotel at a press conference as Donovan spoke up to the crowd of reporters, photographers and ranting mob.

"For the past two years, ever since his unjust conviction on racketeering charges, our client has maintained his innocence and fought to clear his good name." Donovan announced. "One hour ago, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of Wilson Fisk. Having seen the proof that they were wrong, the Department of Justice will not be going forward with charges. As of tonight, we are proud to announce that justice has prevailed and Wilson Fisk is once again a free man."

The crowd ranted and booed, outraged as Fisk, wearing a black coat and white suit, approached the mics.

"I know that most of you find this difficult to accept. That's only because you've been manipulated, poisoned into believing the news media's fake story, that I am evil. That I am a criminal. Quite the opposite is true." Fisk said as the crowd went silent. "Because I challenge the system, because I've told the truth and tried to make this city a better place, the people in power decided to tear me down, to tear me down with false allegations. They sent someone to frame me. Daredevil. The killer, who's now showing his true colors, who has tried to murder people in newspaper offices and churches, attacking our sacred institutions, alongside with his cohorts, notorious criminals like Billy Russo or Shades Alvarez. And we cannot trust the misguided vigilante fools like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Colleen Wing, Daniel Rand or Frank Castle to protect us. Look at the damage they have left behind in their wake! Believe me, Daredevil is our one true public enemy!" Fisk finished to the crowd's shock.

* * *

_**New York** _

Barney returned as Ray dismissed Brett, attempting to let NYPD investigate.

Barney approached Ray, wondering what was going on. "Ray, what happened? Did Daredevil really…"

"Numerous witnesses saw him attack dozens of people and kill the priest in charge." Ray said.

"That's bullshit." Barney said. "Daredevil doesn't kill."

"Tell that to the witnesses." Ray said but Barney knew he was holding something back.

"Nadeem, be honest with me, what happened?" Barney inquired.

"You're no longer a part of the investigation, agent Bernard." Ray said dismissively. "You were requested for numerous meetings but you left us. You've been ordered to return back to Iowa." He then had in his eyes pleading look as Barney nodded in understanding.

"I see." Barney walked away before dialing a number. "I think it's worse than I thought, Clint."

* * *

_**Clinton Church** _

"They're taking the dogs next door." Matt said as he changed his shirt. "Buys us some time."

"Jesus, Matt." Karen whispered as she saw his scars and bruises. "Couldn't put it on in front of her? You know, something just kind of hit me. Watching you… wall yourself off from her." She said, referring to what Matt did earlier for Sister Maggie.

"You know?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, she told me." Karen nodded as Matt scoffed. "Said she felt ashamed about what she did. And that… everyone you cared about, left you."

"Can we not do this now?" Matt grumbled.

"Is this why you insist on doing everything alone?" Karen asked.

"I don't insist…"

"Pushing Foggy and me away." Karen reminded.

"Or trying to bail on us after we beat Davos, Maki and Ikari." Danny realized.

"I'm not pushing you away, I told you, I'm trying to protect you." Matt snapped.

"I don't think you're trying to protect us, I think you're trying to protect yourself." Karen shot back.

"You wanna talk about this right now? There are killers upstairs and you wanna…"

"Alright, I think you should calm down, both of you." Elektra intervened. "Let her say her piece, Matthew."

Matt was quiet as he was going to listen to Karen. "Look, I was never gonna leave you and I'm not leaving you now. Neither will Foggy, Elektra, Danny, Jessica, Colleen or Frank. Despite that me and Foggy treated you badly and we're really sorry for it and that you were a complete asshole to your best friend, he'd still follow you over a cliff."

"She's right, no matter what, we're in this together." Danny said. "You helped me, Colleen, Jessica and Luke before, you can't expect any of us to do any less for you."

"Yeah." Matt sighed, realizing they were right.

"OK, so, what, you agree?" Karen asked as Matt put on a sweater.

"That could actually work." Matt admitted.

"I don't get it, what could work?" Karen asked, confused.

"Wait, you have a plan, right?" Elektra realized.

* * *

Later, Karen turned herself in to the NYPD as her crimes were in their jurisdiction and not FBI's, much to Ray's satisfaction and Dex's annoyance. Ray dragged Brett aside and discreetly revealed to him that FBI has been compromised and she needed NYPD's protection from the FBI as Brett subtly nodded in understanding.

Dex left into a van, enraged as he roared angrily, letting out the frustration that had been building up inside of him.

* * *

_**Chikara Dojo** _

Danny snuck past the FBI as he entered, with Davos in bed, resting.

"Thank you, Danny." Davos said.

"Despite everything, you're still my brother." Danny said as he changed Davos's bandages, while Davos held his arm.

"You were right. I was a fool. A proud fool." Davos said. "I should have listened to you."

"Just rest." Danny said.

"I'm sorry. I'm so…" Davos passed out from the pain as Danny continued to nurse him.

"I'm here." Izo said as he entered and turned to Danny. "Go. Your friends need you."

* * *

_**New York** _

"What do you think?" Barney asked as he and Clint checked the evidence in Barney's apartment.

"I think you might be right. Fisk has compromised the FBI." Clint nodded.

"I don't know who to trust." Barney said. "Asides from Nadeem."

"And what about that DHS agent you told me about?" Clint asked.

"They're not in her jurisdiction." Barney said.

"Yeah but if we can link Russo to Fisk, he's done." Clint suggested.

"Yeah but how?" Barney asked.

* * *

Brett left Karen and Foggy in another part of New York, assuring them that they had the support of NYPD in taking down Fisk but needed concrete evidence as they met Matt, Frank, Elektra, Danny, Luke, Jessica and Colleen on a rooftop.

"So it looks like you needed my help after all." Foggy quipped.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did, Foggy." Matt agreed.

"The blind lawyer is the Red. I'm not surprised." Frank muttered.

"Do you have any idea how much life has sucked for Karen and me, while you were off doing your thing?" Foggy snapped.

"No but I'm sorry, Foggy. Maybe I was wrong to… to push you away." Matt admitted.

"OK, it's insanely hard to fight with you, if you keep agreeing with me." Foggy said, worried.

"Good, because I don't wanna fight with you. Look, the way I've treated you, the way I've treated you all, you've deserved better." Matt said apologetically.

"Yes, we did." Foggy nodded. "But we should've treated you better too, when we found out about your secret."

"No shit." Jessica muttered as Danny, Colleen and Luke shot her a glare.

"OK, so where do we go from here?" Karen wondered.

"I don't want to leave you but I can't ask you to be accomplices to what I have to do now." Matt said.

"What does that mean?" Foggy stammered, confused.

"It means that Matt is going to kill Fisk." Danny said.

"What?" Luke and Jessica stared at Matt in shock.

"Finally a sensible thing you're doing, Red." Frank muttered. "I called Madani, wondering what she could do about Fisk and Russo but she's got nothing that can link those two assholes to each other. We're not gonna bust them this time."

"The crap that you've been pulling off in Chinatown and Hell's Kitchen in the past two months since Midland Circle did mess up your head." Foggy snapped, tapping his temple with his finger, indicating that Matt was out of his mind.

"We put him in prison before, Foggy, look what happened." Matt pointed out.

"It's not gonna be the same this time." Foggy protested. "They're gonna throw him in some supermax hole…"

"Come on." Matt groaned as Frank rolled his eyes.

"…where he can't compromise anybody." Foggy finished.

"Then you're much bigger idiot than I thought." Frank muttered. "Don't tell me you're that naïve."

"It's called having faith in the system." Foggy said as he turned to Matt. "Something you used to have."

"Foggy, there are people in this world, so rich and powerful that they can use the law as their tool, twisting it to suit their own means and make them above the law." Colleen protested. "No law can stop people like Fisk, Maki or the Hand."

Danny nodded. "She's right, if you saw what happened with the Meachums…"

"That's the bullshit that people like Fisk want you to believe." Foggy retorted. "Nobody's above the law. The only thing powerful enough to take down scumbags like him is the law."

"Come on, open your eyes, Nelson!" Luke snapped. "Or do I need to remind you what Mariah and Shades did? Fisk uses the law as his own shield!"

"Federal law, maybe, but we can build a state case that even Blake Tower can't deny, force him to take it to the grand jury." Foggy said.

"Fisk has been five steps ahead of us at every single turn." Matt pointed out. "You really think he's gonna allow that to happen?"

"Hey, you're right. You're right." Karen intervened. "Maybe just hear him out."

"Fine." Matt scoffed. "I'm telling you, it's not gonna work. You wanna give the law another try, sure, I'm all ears."

"Simple." Foggy said. "Step 1, we work together. Step 2, we come up with a plan. Step 3, we execute the plan."

"Step 4, expect the plan to go to hell. Step 5, throw away the plan and improvise." Jessica said sarcastically.

"Look, a little optimism can't hurt, we just need to work out the details." Foggy said hopefully.

"What about this, what about we find ourselves another witness?" Karen suggested.

"Yeah, someone like Evans, who can flip on Fisk but this time, we keep him alive." Colleen nodded.

"And wait, remember agent Bernard?" Danny said. "He may be the only one  _not_  in Fisk's pocket, maybe he can help."

"That's assuming we can find him." Jessica said.

"Someone, who knows the details of Fisk's criminal operation. Who has nothing to lose, OK?" Foggy suggested.

"No. No, we find someone who has everything to lose." Matt said.

* * *

Ray entered his house, worried about his wife and son as he saw at the living room the shattered vase on the floor. He rushed upstairs into the bathroom with his gun ready as he was relieved to see them alright. He ordered for Seema and Sami to pack their things, much to their worry and confusion before he heard noises downstairs as Ray went down carefully with his gun ready. He scoured the lower level until he saw men with guns searching his house and was looking for another way out until he spotted a hitman around the corner and shot him, ordering for Sami and Seema to hide in the bathroom as Ray hid behind a pillar. As the hitman went out from his corner, Ray shot him and switched cover until he ducked as gunshots rang out and Ray fired at the hitman outside as a window shattered and the hitman took cover.

Ray shot down the hitman in the house and ran upstairs, avoiding gunshots as the hitmen followed him but then, Matt appeared, throwing the hitman down from the stairs, breaking his arm and knocking him out.

Another hitman entered but Danny snuck up on him from behind, grabbing him in chokehold and knocking him out as Elektra jumped at another one and wrapped her legs around him and knocking him down.

Another hitman went from downstairs up but Colleen jumped over the railing and kicked him downstairs before Luke and Jessica knocked out the remaining hitmen as Ray went down, aiming his gun but then, another hitman entered with a machine gun, about to shoot them all before he was shot by an arrow in his chest as through the door burst in Clint Barton, holding a bow and Barney.

"What?" Ray widened his eyes. "Barney?"

"I suspected you needed help. I called in a backup." Barney said.

"Agent Nadeem." Clint nodded.

Ray was too freaked out for the safety for his family as he aimed his gun at the vigilantes.

"Obviously, we're here to help you." Colleen said as they raised their hands in surrender.

"I sold you out to Fisk." Ray said.

"We know you didn't want to." Matt assured him.

"But I did." Ray reminded. "So, maybe you're here because you wanna be the one that kills me before Fisk gets around to do it."

"We know you were a victim, we're not as cruel as them." Frank said. "You want your family safe, you need to trust us."

"Ray, we can't trust the New York branch of the FBI. You need our help." Barney said.

"I can't trust anybody." Ray breathed out.

"Well, I trust you. You saved Karen Page's life tonight." Matt said before lifting off his mask as Ray stared at him in shock. "So I owe you one."

Ray lowered his gun, not believing his own eyes. Matt Murdock was the Devil of Hell's Kitchen… and he and the Punisher, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, Jessica Jones and Clint Barton and other people were here to help him save his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	12. Fighting Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt, Foggy and Ray try another attempt to stop Fisk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A chopper landed on a helipad as Fisk waited before one of his men approached him. "Sir."

"What?" Fisk asked.

"Nadeem escaped, he's in the wind." The man said.

"Then find him!" Fisk ordered angrily as from the chopper went out Vanessa Marianna and Fisk approached her, smiling happily.

"Hello, Wilson." Vanessa said as they hugged each other, hoping to spend the rest of their lives together.

* * *

In another part, Matt was walking down the street, trying to make sure there was a safe route as Foggy pulled out his phone. "OK, there's nobody watching."

A silver car drove down as Brett went out with Seema and Sami into the Mahoney's house.

"Thanks, Mrs. Mahoney." Foggy told her.

"You all ain't the only ones haunted by Wilson Fisk." Mrs. Mahoney said.

"Thank you, dear." Matt said as they entered.

* * *

Ray agreed to testify against Fisk, with Matt and Foggy representing him as his lawyers as they all hoped this plan would finally take down Fisk.

* * *

Mary came to as she looked confused, while Danny and Colleen knelt next to her as she was bound to a chair "Danny?"

"Mary?" Danny asked.

"What… what's going on?" Mary asked, confused before the realization hit her as she noticed she was tied up. "Oh, God, what have I done?"

"Hey, hey, it's OK." Danny assured her. "Look, I need you to leave town, OK? It's for your own good. They're trying to use Walker but you need to leave. Please."

Mary nodded, considering that Walker obviously did again something horrible.

* * *

**_Fogwell's Gym_ **

Karen was working on some paperwork as Matt and Ray entered.

"Is this your law office?" Ray asked sarcastically.

"Nobody knows about this place, we'll be safe here. Take a seat." Matt replied as Ray approached Karen.

"Miss Page."

"Agent Nadeem."

Ray had the decency to look ashamed as he looked at Karen, who sat down. "You tried to warn me about Fisk. I should've listened. And about what happened at the church…"

"Let's not… let's not go there." Karen said. "In the end, you got me out alive, so I guess that means we're on the same side now."

"Hopefully." Barney said as he and Clint entered.

"May I ask how did you get Hawkeye to help?" Ray asked Barney, genuinely curious.

Barney took a breath. "My full name is Charles Bernard Barton."

" _Barton_?" Karen and Ray widened their eyes.

"We both went into the same line of work. Although… I wasn't as ambitious as Clint." Barney admitted as he patted Clint, who smiled. "I use my middle name, since I needed to make my own way in the world. I've never thought about… larger scale, unlike Clint."

"But… what about the Accords?" Ray asked.

"As far as they are concerned, Clint Barton is aiding a federal investigation and not violating terms of his parole, at least that's my story." Barney said as they nodded.

"OK, we're gonna get your family safe but we can't ask for WITSEC." Matt said as he prepared glasses of water and sat down. "If Fisk got to the Bureau, he can get to the Marshals Service."

"We were thinking overseas, maybe with a friend or a distant relative." Karen suggested.

"Uh… my brother's wife has a cousin in Bihar. I never liked him." Ray said.

"I can get a flight but Fisk's people will be watching the airports, so we should fly them out of Montreal." Karen said.

"I know some people who might be able to smuggle them out discreetly." Clint said as Ray stared at Karen in disbelief.

"Uh… I've had some time to think about how to get away from him." Karen explained.

"They'll be watching my bank accounts." Ray pointed out.

"We'll cover it." Matt assured him.

"Thanks." Ray said gratefully. "But it might be more than I deserve."

"Look, you… you hurt people. It doesn't have to define you." Karen assured him.

"You should get ready, Ray. Locker room is through there." Matt said and Ray nodded before he got up and left.

"Are you sure this will work, Miss Page?" Barney asked.

"There's only one way to know for sure." Karen said as she got up and put on her jacket.

"You're right. His mistakes don't need to define him." Matt pointed out. "Neither do yours."

Karen scoffed. "I should get going, I don't wanna miss my window." Matt just stared. "Really? No, uh, " _It's too dangerous, Karen._ "?"

Matt chuckled. "Clearly you can handle yourself. But, you know, Karen, please, be careful." He said quickly as Karen was about to leave.

"Got it." Karen nodded as she left.

* * *

Foggy went to meet Blake Tower and agreed to drop out from the D.A. race in exchange for an hour of Blake's time as they met back in the gym and sat down at the desk.

"Before we begin, some ground rules." Matt said. "Our client will speak to you under terms of use immunity. He does not waive his Fifth Amendment rights."

"Special Agent, I should advise you that Misters Nelson and Murdock have their own agenda in this case, conflicts of interest are not something you want in legal counsel." Tower cautioned.

"I trust them." Ray said.

"Suit yourself." Tower shrugged. "Mr. Nelson played his biggest and last card to get me here. So, what are you gonna tell me?"

"He's gonna tell you that Wilson Fisk has had people murdered, blackmailed federal law enforcement personnel and is currently taxing New York's criminals in exchange for immunity from prosecution." Matt said.

"And your client has personally witnessed these acts?" Tower asked for clarification.

"He did and he's prepared to testify." Foggy nodded.

"Now, before I agree to that, Agent Nadeem, why are you coming forward now?" Tower asked.

Ray took a breath. "I hurt people. My pride hurt people. And I need to make that right again."

"OK." Tower nodded. "I accept the terms of use of immunity. Tell me what you know."

Ray took a breath and shuddered as he told Tower everything.

Tower took a moment to absorb what he had just been told. "This is unbelievable."

"Believe it." Foggy said.

"I can convene a special grand jury today, probably by 4 P.M." Tower said.

"Great. Our offer is straightforward. Agent Nadeem's testimony in exchange for full immunity." Matt said.

Tower looked at them incredulously as he got up, turning to Ray. "He just confessed to being an accessory in how many homicides?"

"Cases you would never make in a million years without our client's testimony." Foggy pointed out as he got up too.

"If this was a larceny case or corruption, maybe. But he's a federal law enforcement officer, that looked the other way, while class A felonies, homicides were committed!" Tower argued. "Two men were murdered in front of him and he never said a damn word!"

"He didn't say a thing because he was afraid for his family! Fisk tried to kill them all last night and Agent Nadeem is here, today, telling you everything. Can you say you'd do the same thing, Mr. Tower?" Matt pointed out, taking him aback a bit. "Our offer expires when you walk out that door. Full immunity or we're advising our client to run for his life."

Tower shook his head in disbelief. "Five years, on each count."

"No." Matt declined.

"You can't do murder and walk." Tower said.

"Come on, Blake, no jail time." Foggy pleaded. "You'll be the D.A., who took down Wilson Fisk and the next stop on the Tower train is the governorship."

Tower considered. "Five years. On all counts. Final offer."

Matt sighed, realizing this was a lost fight as he offered his hand. "Thank you for coming by, Mr. Tower."

Tower was about to walk away before Ray spoke up. "Wait. He's right. I did the crime. And I need to keep my family safe. I'll take it. It's OK. I'm good with this."

Tower nodded. "Let me make a call." He opened the door and left.

Ray then approached the phone and spoke up. "Sami, there's something I need to talk to you about. You might hear some stories about me. Some stuff that… sounds like I did bad things. No, I didn't do them. But I didn't stop them from happening, either." He admitted, ashamed. "That's just as bad. I was trying to keep you and your Mom safe. That's all that matters to me. I don't care what people say about me, all I care about is… what you say about me. And that you get to live the life that you wanted. I love you, kid."

* * *

Matt, Danny, Colleen, Luke, Jessica, Elektra and Ray entered the van as they drove down the road, with Clint and Barney in another car.

"I need to ask you something." Ray said.

"You want to know about Daredevil." Matt realized.

"I stepped off the path for a few weeks and it destroyed my life." Ray sighed. "But your life, you step on and off all the time."

"It complicates my life too." Matt admitted. "I'm trying to have it both ways."

"Does it? I mean, your friends know who you are, what you do." Ray said.

"It doesn't make it any easier." Jessica said. "The knowledge of it… sometimes it puts the people you love in danger. Dark shit that… has a nasty habit of infecting those we care about." She sighed, remembering Trish.

"And not always are we able to pull them back from it." Danny nodded. "Sometimes we can't have it both ways."

"But you already do." Ray said. "I messed up and no matter what happens today, I don't know if my wife's ever coming back." Then he turned to Matt. "But your friends keep coming back. I mean, how do you hold onto them?"

"It's not Matt but us." Luke said as everyone in the van chuckled.

Suddenly, they heard horns blare and Matt heard footsteps and cocking of weapons as he grabbed Ray and pinned him down. "Get down!" Everyone, save for Luke, who shielded them, laid down as Fisk's thugs opened fire at the van.

"Get us out of here!" Ray ordered but Matt noticed that the driver was dead.

"He's dead. Draw your weapon." Matt ordered.

"Here we go again." Jessica grumbled.

"Punch through it." Matt ordered as Luke punched through the wall and slammed one of the thugs into the van, while Jessica went out through the hole and threw another one away and Ray shot down the remaining thugs near the van. "Let's go."

Ray went out before Matt noticed something. "Wait. Wait, Ray!"

The door opened and Danny grabbed the thug's rifle and knocked him out.

Ray went forward and saw a dead thug. "Clear!"

Matt jumped through the front window and tackled the thug in front of him down before knocking him out. "We stick together, understand?" Matt ordered as they walked down the road.

"I know what I'm doing." Ray said. "I'll get us into the courthouse."

"Ray, listen, you all need to pretend to lead me but you do what I say." Matt ordered as he held onto Ray's arm as they went forward. "Stay down. There's two ahead of us." Two of the thugs went out from his cover behind a car and fired as Ray and Frank shot them down.

"Alright, up ahead, there's a way out. This way." Matt ordered as they passed by some cars. "Two o'clock. Go."

Danny jumped over a car and kicked one of the thugs in his face, while Colleen rushed at another and slammed him to another car and kicked him in his stomach and threw him down. Jessica and Luke grabbed four thugs nearing them and threw them away like ragdolls as they landed on the cars and glass shattered, while Elektra threw two knives, killing two thugs nearing them and Frank provided from another car as he shot some of them with his rifle, while Barney and Clint went out from the car as Clint shot one of them down as he fired an arrow and Barney shot the other two.

They entered a bus as Ray closed the door. "Sit down, wait for my cue." Matt ordered as the rest hid. "Hello? Hello? What… what's happening?" Matt called out, acting like a blind man, trying to sound confused.

Two thugs were attracted to Matt's voice as they entered before Ray grabbed the rifle of one of them and Matt hit another one with his cane in his face and punched him. The thug Ray was fighting with, threw him out and slammed him against a car before Danny kicked him in the head, knocking him out. Matt threw his enemy down and slammed him against the door before knocking him down and Matt rolled forward, kicking the thug in the head, knocking him out.

* * *

**_Courthouse_ **

Foggy was checking his watch as Karen entered, wearing her hoodie. "Hey, where are they?"

"Late. Why?" Foggy asked.

"There's been an attack, people got shot a few blocks around here." Karen explained.

"Oh, shit." Foggy cursed.

Tower approached them. "They're locking down the building. I gotta call my office."

"Hey. We're here." Matt said as he and Ray entered.

"What the hell happened?" Tower demanded.

"Fisk knows he's gonna testify." Matt explained.

"Are you in any condition to?" Tower asked and Ray panted out.

"Absolutely. Yeah." Ray nodded.

"OK, let's go." Tower said as they followed him.

"Here's the deal, after you testify, Tower will take you for arraignment and then we'll bail you out." Foggy explained.

"What about my family?" Ray asked.

"I already spoke to Seema, they'll be on a flight to Delhi in the morning." Karen assured him.

"It's not forever, just until we get Fisk put away." Matt explained. "And you'll get a chance to say goodbye."

"I don't know how to thank you…"

"Don't thank me. Just go get Fisk." Matt assured Ray, who nodded and readjusted his collar as he entered the courtroom. "You all set?" He turned to Karen.

"Yeah, Ellison already delivered." Karen nodded.

"Is it just me or did our plan…"

"Foggy, I'm begging you, don't say it." Matt begged, not wanting Foggy to jinx it.

"But it feels good, right?" Foggy said. "The three of us, working together and saving the… OK. OK."

"Look, I gotta go, OK?" Karen said as she left.

* * *

Karen went out, nervous as she and Ellison confronted the reporters. "I'm Karen Page, I'm here to make a statement."

"Why didn't the Daredevil kill you?" One of them asked.

"Let her speak!" Ellison intervened.

"We have all been lied to, alright?" Karen told the reporters. "We've been manipulated by a sociopath, who doesn't care about the truth or about who he hurts or about anyone other than himself. Last night, Wilson Fisk tried to have me killed because I know the truth. The man, who was wearing the Daredevil suit is not the real Daredevil. He is an impostor, who is helping Wilson Fisk take back control of New York's criminal underworld. At this moment, a grand jury is hearing testimony…"

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

"You're seeing this shit?" An agent asked Dex, who glared and seethed.

* * *

**_Courthouse_ **

"OK, your client was very convincing." Tower said as he and Ray went out. "Keep him here until the indictment comes in."

"Don't worry. We'll hold up our end." Foggy nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Matt shook his hand with Tower as the District Attorney walked away.

"You OK?" Foggy asked Ray.

"For a guy, who's about to send his family away and go to prison?" Ray sighed. "Yeah. I guess so."

"You did good, Ray." Matt assured him.

"You heard everything through the wall, didn't you?" Ray drawled. "You know that's kind of creepy?"

"Oh, he knows." Foggy quipped.

"I heard a man standing up to Fisk. Your son will hear the same thing. And it'll mean a lot to them." Matt said. " I didn't know if we could get this done, Ray but we did. No, you did." He corrected himself. "So, thank you."

"So, what now?" Ray asked.

"Hopefully, you'll serve out your sentence in a minimum security prison." Foggy told him. "Can't be sure."

Suddenly, Matt heard voices from the courtroom as one of the jurors said names and addresses, much to the horror of other jurors as he realized that Fisk must have gotten to the jury. "Oh, no, no, no."

"Matt, what's wrong?" Foggy and Ray turned to him in confusion.

"The jurors. Fisk got to them." Matt said, frustrated.

* * *

In a bathroom, Matt scolded Foggy that this would happen before Foggy encouraged him to convince Tower to resume the trial. As Matt left the bathroom, Ray knocked Foggy out and left. Later, Ray left into his house, realizing there was no way out as he pulled out his phone and started recording his final message to his family. "Hey, beautiful. It's me. I'm home."

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

"Agent Nadeem has been located." Manning revealed to Fisk. "His testimony to the grand jury remains sealed and inadmissible but given its public nature, we should weight the benefits of keeping him alive."

"Force Nadeem to stand trial for the murder of agent Winn and get rid of agent Bernard. Make sure they send him back to Iowa. He's been too nosy. Turn the FBI against them both and discredit them in the press." Fisk ordered.

"My thoughts exactly, sir." Manning nodded.

"Wilson. What do agent Nadeem and agent Bernard know about your business?" Vanessa asked.

"Bernard, he has no idea despite that he's been asking many questions around. He's been ordered to leave New York. Nadeem, a considerable amount." Fisk said.

"And are they determined to find ways to hurt you? To hurt us?" Vanessa inquired.

Fisk nodded. "Yes."

"Don't you think it would be safer to remove the threat?" Vanessa suggested.

"Yes, I do." Fisk held her hand.

"If agent Poindexter and your friend is useful, perhaps he and Miss Matsumoto can help us with this problem." Vanessa said before turning to Manning. "You'll let them know, won't you?"

"Yes, ma'am." Manning nodded.

* * *

_**Ray's house** _

"Ray." Barney entered as Ray was on the couch with a beer in his hand, holding in his hand his phone.

"You came here to kill me?" Ray wondered.

"I'm not on Fisk's side. I'm on your side, you know that." Barney said.

"There's no beating Fisk. He's won." Ray said, beaten.

"Ray, it's not too late. We'll find another way." Barney assured him as they got up and entered his car. But as they drove down, suddenly, a tire went flat as it flipped over as Dex lowered his weapon. Then he watched the car explode and smirked in satisfaction before walking away.

* * *

**_Fogwell's Gym_ **

"Thanks, Brett. Yeah, OK." Foggy hung up his phone and sat down. "Ray is in coma. They didn't find agent Bernard though." Matt fumed in anger and put on his jacket, about to walk away. "Matt, please."

"No, we tried it your way." Matt snapped as he whirled on Foggy before walking out and banging the door as Karen and Foggy looked beaten and desperate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, I debated, whether to kill off Ray or not but he didn't deserve what happened to him and I honestly wasn't sure how to save him, so I figured, Barney would come to help but he'd get caught in crossfire. And the confession part will be more or less the same since Ray believed he was gonna die, when he recorded his message, so it might as well be considered a dead man's declaration.
> 
> Now, two more chapters to go before the end and the sequel I have planned later in Summer.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	13. One Last Card to Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all attempt to stop Fisk and Maki and their allies once and for all, while finding one last card to play to take them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Fisk put on his white suit and coat as he was enjoying his victory, while the TV was on.

" _After the attack at the Bulletin and the horrible tragedy at the Clinton Church, what will it take before people realize that Wilson Fisk was set up by Daredevil?_ "

" _People are beginning to realize that Fisk was the victim of a smear campaign. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Luke Cage and Frank Castle were behind it all. And what about Daredevil's apologists like Blake Tower or Karen Page?_ "

" _She should be in jail._ "

" _We have breaking news that Fisk has invited many of New York's most powerful figures to the Presidential Hotel for some kind of surprise announcement._ "

* * *

_**New York** _

On a rooftop, Matt pulled a bag off Manning's head as he, Frank, Elektra, Danny, Luke, Jessica and Colleen glared at him.

"Kidnapping me will get you nothing." Manning sneered.

"What is Fisk planning?" Matt demanded.

" _Planning_?" Manning repeated, seemingly confused.

"We checked his hotel, there's been increased security." Colleen said. "And he's planning something big. What is it? What is he and Maki, Shades and Russo up to?"

"What Fisk will do to me is infinitely worse…"

Matt punched Manning in his face as Manning grunted. "Things are about to get very bad for you."

"Option A. You tell us what Fisk is planning and at best you'll get broken nose. Option B. We crush every bone in your body until you tell us what Fisk is planning." Frank said. "I'm leaning more onto B."

"Tell us everything you know. Where is everyone gonna be and try to stop us from getting to Fisk." Danny said.

"He controls all of the FBI agents, who are guarding him, except for Bernard. He's in the wind." Manning said. "The hotel is a fortress."

"I guess that's a " _no_ "." Elektra shrugged.

"You'll never get to him." Manning shook his head.

"Oh, that definitely sounds like " _no_ "." Luke smirked as Matt threw Manning off the roof. Manning screamed until his fall stopped midair, with his leg tied to a rope and he was hanging as the bones in his ankle cracked.

"I can give you something better!" Manning yelled.

"Talk." Colleen said.

"I witnessed Miss Marianna order the murders of Agent Nadeem and Bernard. And Fisk ordered many. Agent Winn. Julie Barnes! I could testify!" Manning cried out.

"We already know about Winn, Nadeem and Bernard." Elektra said.

"Who's Julie Barnes?" Jessica inquired.

Manning quickly told them everything before they pulled him up.

"And is that all? What is he, Russo, Maki and Shades planning?" Danny demanded.

"Matsumoto agreed to help Fisk in exchange for excavation. She promised him great power if he… if he later hired… men… demolition team… specialists like Russo… to dig deep under the rubble of Midland Circle. They've already acquired explosives and… enhanced some individuals to be like Miss Jones or Mr. Cage with the…"

"Nightshade drug." Luke and Danny realized.

Manning nodded. "She found a formula. Fisk's enhanced men would help her, if she helped him crush you. And Mr. Alvarez, Russo and Miss Walker agreed to help for a cut from the profit."

* * *

Later in the morning, an ambulance picked Manning, while Brett and Foggy wondered what was Matt and his friends up to.

"So, Felix Manning." Madani said as she entered the van and he paled. "Care to fill me in?"

* * *

**_FBI_ **

"After the body of Supervisory Special Agent Winn was found in the Hudson, search divers also recovered the murder weapon." Hattley announced at a press conference. "The registered service sidearm of fellow FBI agent Ray Nadeem. When agents went to take Nadeem into custody, he, with the aid of agent Barney Bernard, attempted to escape and they forced their fellow agents to shoot them in self-defense. Agent Nadeem is alive and undergoing surgery but agent Bernard is still at large. When he wakes up, we will find out what kind of mental instability drove Ray Nadeem to commit this senseless act. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of all the agents who have been impacted by these events."

* * *

**_Fogwell's gym_ **

Karen glared at the TV as she saw Hattley's announcement, while Foggy entered.

"The press is calling me a liar. FBI is calling Ray mentally unstable." Karen turned off the TV before she turned to Foggy, outraged.

"Ray's grand jury testimony is sealed, so Fisk is just throwing up smokescreens until people forget and move on." Foggy said as he sat across her.

"Yeah? Unless Matt and the rest figure out some way to stop him, he's gonna get away with it. With all of it." Karen snapped angrily.

"You mean unless they kill him." Foggy pointed out.

"You shouldn't have warned Mahoney." Karen scolded him.

"If the police have Fisk surrounded, maybe they won't be able to go through with it." Foggy said.

"Or maybe they'll get arrested. Or worse." Karen sneered.

"Karen…"

"Look, I'm not saying that I want them to kill Fisk. I don't want that." Karen said. "What if it's the only way. It's not murder if it's self-defense, right?"

"Technically, plotting to kill someone is the exact legal opposite of self-defense." Foggy argued.

"You know what I mean." Karen said.

"I get it. Our best shot at taking down Fisk died when Nadeem ended up in a coma and Bernard disappeared But yesterday was also a good day because Matt came back to us. The real Matt." Foggy assured her.

"Yeah, for, like, a minute maybe." Karen snapped.

"Eventually, he'll come to his senses. Matt's Matt because he believes that everyone deserves a shot at redemption." Foggy tried to assure her.

"Except Fisk." Karen scoffed.

" _Everyone_." Foggy said. "It's a Catholic thing. That's why he doesn't kill people. If he crosses that line, Matt will never be able to forgive himself. And being around us will just remind him of who he was and what he's done. From what Knight told me, he already bailed before on Jones, Wing and Rand back in Chinatown when the shit blew over because of how it went down."

"We'd really lose him, wouldn't we?" Karen realized.

"Forever, this time." Foggy nodded. His phone then rang as he pulled it out and answered the call. "Hello?" Foggy suddenly leaned forward, very interested. "Yes. Can I ask why? No need, I know where you are."

He hung up and sighed as Karen turned to him. "What? What is it?"

Foggy sighed. "The FBI wants me to come in."

Karen paled, worried. "It's Fisk."

"Yeah, it might be." Foggy nodded.

" _Might be_?" Karen scoffed. "Foggy, you're not going down there."

"I have a life, I'm not prepared to become a wanted fugitive." Foggy got up.

"Wait, wait, wait, no, just wait." Karen tried to stop him. "What if it's a trap and you don't walk out again? Huh?"

* * *

**_Later, FBI_ **

Foggy entered as Dex greeted him. "Mr. Nelson."

"Special Agent Poindexter." Foggy said.

"You just won me fifty bucks. Some of the guys were betting you wouldn't show." Dex said.

"I'm always available to help the FBI, Agent Poindexter." Foggy said, glaring. "In fact, please, smile." He pulled out his phone and did a selfie with Dex. "There. Posted to my campaign page and the tens of thousands of police officers that know that I'm here. With you. Helping."

"Relax, Mr. Nelson, you're not in any danger." Dex assured him, not that it calmed Foggy down. "You'll be very useful when you're the next District Attorney."

"Why am I here?" Foggy demanded.

"Because Ray Nadeem was a friend of yours." Dex replied.

"A client." Foggy corrected.

"Sad, the way it all turned out." Dex said.

"Even though he's in a coma, I can't answer any questions that would violate privilege." Foggy said.

"I'm not asking you to. Follow me." Dex accompanied him to the conference room, where Ray's wife Seema was.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Nelson."

"Mrs. Nadeem. What are you doing here?" Foggy asked, confused.

"I came to apologize." Seema explained.

"To apologize?" Foggy repeated, not understanding.

"I asked them to call you because you were Ray's lawyer." Seema explained. "And I want to fully cooperate with the investigation of my husband. What Ray did is… how could a man I loved with all my heart… the father of my son, turn out to be such a monster?"

"It wasn't your fault, Seema." Dex assured her. "Ray fooled a lot of people. Nobody here blames you or Sami, you're still part of the FBI family."

"We'll give you the room. Take all the time you need." Hattley said as she and Dex left Foggy and Seema alone in the conference room.

"How's Sami?" Foggy asked.

"He's OK. With my sister." Seema said. "I haven't told him yet."

"When did you get here?"

"I came as soon as I saw the news." Seema picked the notepad. "I didn't want to believe it but I know I needed to hear the truth." She picked a pen and wrote ' _They are listening_ '.

"I'm so sorry, that… that must have been an incredible shock." Foggy said, acknowledging Seema's message.

"It was." Seema nodded. "But I decided it was the right thing for me to come in and cooperate." She wrote ' _To save Sami._ '

"That was smart. Totally the right thing to do." Foggy said, discreetly complimenting on how she was trying to communicate with him.

"I was hoping you could help me figure out how I can help the FBI and how will we survive." Seema said, while writing ' _Ray's idea. In his video._ '

Foggy encircled the word "video" and put a question mark next to it, wanting to know more about it.

Seema handed Foggy discreetly a phone as he nodded. "I'll help you figure it out, Mrs. Nadeem. Whatever I can do to help you and Sami get through this."

Foggy picked the phone and left.

* * *

"What do you want?" Dex asked as he answered Manning's call.

"I'm coming for you, Dex. And my suit." Matt said as Dex recognized the voice, realizing Matt must have gotten to Manning.

"Where's Felix?" Dex demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough." Matt said ominously.

"I've got some free time now, why don't we meet up?" Dex challenged.

"I have a question. Did you enjoy the feeling you got when you killed those birdies?" Matt asked. "Is that why you're still killing?"

"Birdies?" Dex asked, not understanding.

"The ones you killed with rocks." Matt reminded. "I bet it felt good at first, right? Then it's never the same after that. What do you think Dr. Mercer would say if she could see you now?"

"Can you hang on a second, I need a tissue for all the tears I'm crying over my shitty childhood." Dex said sarcastically.

"Have you heard from your friend Julie lately?" Matt said.

"You wanna talk to Dr. Mercer, asshole? Keep talking." Dex growled angrily.

"What do you think she'd say if she knew about the innocent people you killed. I bet she'd be disappointed, Dex… if she was still alive."

"If you…" Dex seethed in rage. "If you hurt Julie…"

"Fisk had her killed. He killed Julie, so he could replace her as your North Star." Matt said.

"You should stick to beating on people in alleys because you're not gonna get in my head." Dex said in denial, thinking Matt was bluffing.

"You don't have to believe me. Then again, you may wanna ask how I got Manning's phone." Matt said.

"Don't know. Don't care." Dex snapped.

"Julie wouldn't approve of you killing people, Dex." Matt said.

"Stop saying her name." Dex growled again.

"You say you got some free time? You may wanna check out 16 Canal Place." Matt said.

"Why?" Dex demanded but Matt had already hung up on him.

* * *

**_Fogwell's gym_ **

Karen and Foggy were watching the video on Ray's phone. " _If you're showing this to Sami, I need you to stop the video now. For everyone else, my name is Special Agent Ray Nadeem of the FBI and under federal law, I swear that the testimony I'm about to give is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth and should be considered my dying declaration._

_I'm guilty of a number of criminal acts and I was in no way acting alone. Wilson Fisk coerced me and a number of fellow FBI agents into aiding and abetting a criminal conspiracy, to extort protection money from New York crime organizations._

_Agents Arinori, Johnson, Markham, Mockter, O'Connor and Ramsey all took part and continue to act as Fisk's operatives under the order of our boss, Special Agent in Charge Tammy Hattley. There may be others. I can't be sure._

_But I personally witnessed SAC Hattley murder Agent Winn in her kitchen, using my handgun. And then witnessed Fisk's aide, Felix Manning, remove the body and use this crime and threats against my family to blackmail me into cooperating with Fisk._

_I'm not making any excuses because I aided and abetted the worst crime of them all. I personally drove Special Agent Ben Poindexter to the Clinton Church… dressed in a fake Daredevil suit. I knew at this point, that Poindexter was the killer, who attacked the Bulletin and I knew he was gonna do something horrible at the church. But I let it happen anyway. So I'm guilty of aiding and abetting of the murder of Father Paul Lantom. And agent Charles Bernard attempted to investigate the corruption in the FBI but SAC Hattley ordered him to return to Iowa branch. It is likely it was an excuse to eliminate him as well, he may be dead too by the time you see this video._

_I'm ashamed of what I've done. But that doesn't change the fact that I and everyone I just named are guilty as Hell. Seems, you need to get this video to my attorneys. And don't try and run. Go to the FBI and pretend like you don't know anything about any of this. Tell them I'm a monster. It's the only way that you and Sami can get through this. I'm sorry, baby. I will always love you._ " Ray sent a kiss as the video ended and Foggy put the phone down as he and Karen were processing what they just saw.

"He knew he was gonna die. It's only a miracle that he's still alive." Karen said. "OK, so maybe it won't hold up in court but if we put this out there, it'll make Fisk's life a living hell."

"Actually, a dying declaration is exempt from the hearsay rule." Foggy pointed out.

"What?" Karen asked, not understanding.

"The court says that a person, who believes that they're dying is… has less incentive to lie." Foggy explained. "Ray believed he was gonna die when he recorded this, therefore anything he said…"

"You're telling me this is admissible in court?" Karen realized, hope rising.

"Every damn word. It's the silver bullet to take down Fisk." Foggy nodded.

"Shit. The world has to know." Karen said.

"The world and Matt, Jessica, Luke, Danny and Frank." Foggy nodded.

"And Madani." Karen nodded.

* * *

_**New York** _

Dex checked the place as Matt said and he opened the door and entered, while opening the door to another room, readying his weapon and holding a flashlight until he approached a freezer and opened it. Inside were two body bags and Dex opened one to see Julie Barnes. Dex exclaimed and moaned in horror, shock and rage before panting out. His phone then rang as he answered the call as Dex glared.

"When I find you…"

" _Like I said, Fisk killed her and we both know it._ " Matt told him.

"You did this."

" _Think, Dex. Who got Julie the job at the hotel? Who had you followed, when you were stalking her? It was all Fisk. You let him turn you into a murderer, you think he's gonna let Julie get in the way?_ "

"Why are you telling me this?" Dex asked.

" _Because Fisk wants to get married tonight. And I don't think he deserves a life of happily ever after._ " Matt said.

" _And Shades, Russo or Maki don't deserve to live either._ " Frank said.

* * *

**_Bulletin_ **

Karen delivered Ellison Ray's message as she instructed him to circulate it everywhere.

* * *

**_Presidential Hotel_ **

Dex, in the Daredevil suit entered the hotel as Matt heard sounds of punching.

* * *

"Have we reached an agreement?" Maki asked.

"The men we hired will dig out the rubble from the Midland Circle, so that you can extract what you need, Miss Matsumoto." Fisk promised. "I'm a man of my word. I've already paid Russo and Shades."

"I suppose this concludes our partnership." Maki nodded.

"Not just yet. Why don't we celebrate our victory?" Fisk said as he went to the altar and approached Vanessa.

* * *

Matt, Danny, Davos, Colleen, Jessica, Luke, Frank and Elektra entered as they saw Lim in the garage, knocked out.

* * *

Fisk and Vanessa entered the ballroom as they began to dance and the people recorded them on their phones until they saw notifications pinging and turned them on to see Ray's video as Fisk noticed their shocked looks until he noticed what Ray had done.

* * *

Matt, Danny, Davos, Elektra, Frank, Colleen, Jessica and Luke entered as they saw the guards and agents knocked out.

* * *

"Sir, there's a problem. Agents are down."

Much to Fisk's and Vanessa's and the crowd's shock, Dex in the Daredevil suit appeared on stage as he picked a microphone. "I'd like to make a toast. Julie and I wish you the absolute best." He threw the microphone at Vanessa as the crowd screamed in panic before Matt threw a tray, knocking it away from Vanessa.

The agents opened fire as Dex and Matt took cover behind tables. Dex threw a plate at one of the agents, hitting him in the head, while Matt grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around Dex's face, blinding him as Dex attacked one of the agents. Matt knocked Dex down as Jessica, Colleen, Elektra, Luke and Danny entered, knocking out the remaining agents, while Frank shot them down.

* * *

"How did this happen?" Fisk demanded as he entered his penthouse with Vanessa.

"Dex knows our security protocols." One of the agents said as Fisk closed the door.

"That video of Agent Nadeem is a threat to us." Vanessa said.

"I'll discredit his testimony and take care of everything. I'll use his family as a leverage to make him take it all back, once he wakes up." Fisk vowed.

"Wilson…" Vanessa spoke up.

"I should have never let Dex that close to you." Fisk said as he opened the door.

"Be angry later, be smart now. Listen to me." Vanessa closed the door. "We need to run."

Fisk assured her. "You didn't make a mistake marrying me."

"I know that but now, be smart." Vanessa said. "For both of us."

* * *

Dex threw the cutlery at the agents until Hattley crawled down on the floor. Dex fired at her from an agent's pistol a warning shot as she stopped. Dex was about to kill her until he noticed that the gun was empty. Dex threw at her the gun until she was knocked out.

* * *

"What's going on, Fisk?" Russo demanded as he and Shades entered.

"Why is Poindexter against us now?" Shades asked.

"Don't worry about him now, stop him!" Fisk ordered.

"This wasn't part of our deal." Russo growled.

"You want your money?" Fisk got up, glaring. "Take care of this, or I'll take care of you."

* * *

Matt ordered Shelby to shut down the elevators as they all were about to make one last encounter with Fisk.

Matt faced Fisk in a hidden corridor, while Danny, Colleen, Frank, Jessica and Luke entered another corridor until they faced Maki, Russo, Shades and to their surprise, two Asian people appeared, one of them a middle-aged man with short hair and an elderly woman.

"You gotta be kidding me." Jessica groaned.

"You again?" Luke rolled his eyes.

"Some things never die." Madame Gao smirked.

"Guess we should've cut your heads off too." Colleen sneered.

* * *

Matt faced Fisk and Vanessa in a corridor as they exchanged heated stares. "It's over."

"Run." Fisk ordered as Vanessa ran away.

Fisk and Matt stared before both of them let out roars of rage. Matt rushed at Fisk as glass shattered before Fisk threw him through a wall. Fisk grabbed Matt and slammed him to the ground and started to pummel him. Matt punched Fisk in his face as Fisk fell down. Matt then hit Fisk in the face with a lamp as Fisk fell down the stairs onto the lower level.

Colleen and Elektra dodged as Maki attacked with her sword. She aimed for their heads but Colleen and Elektra crouched and kicked Maki back as she staggered. Colleen attempted to use her chi katana to cut Maki's head off but Maki jumped and kicked Colleen's sword off her hand before she kicked Elektra in her face. She aimed for Elektra's head with her sword but Elektra was barely able to dodge as Maki scratched her neck. Elektra's sais and Maki's sword clashed as Elektra pushed her back.

Danny and Davos attempted to fight Gao, who dodged and threw Davos back telekinetically. She attempted to throw Danny back too but his Iron Fist sent her flying away. As Davos got up, he jumped forward and did a flip kick, hitting Gao in her face. Gao hit Davos with her cane in his stomach as Davos grunted. Gao then hit Davos in the leg as he fell down but Danny jumped off a wall and kicked her in the face as she fell down.

Russo and Shades fired at Frank, while he took cover behind a couch. Frank rushed forward with a table, using it as a shield as it knocked Shades down. Russo attempted to whack Frank in the head with his rifle but Frank was unfazed before Frank stomped on Shades' face, knocking him out before he and Russo traded punches. Frank grabbed Russo's arms and disarmed him of his wrist blades before Frank sent a powerful punch to Russo's face as Russo staggered back. Frank rushed at Russo, grabbing him and slamming his face against the window. Russo looked enraged as he freed himself from Frank's grip and they traded punches again.

Jessica attempted to kick Murakami but Murakami dodged, while Luke grabbed him. Murakami freed himself from Luke's grip and kicked him back. Murakami jumped and kicked Luke in his face as Luke staggered. Jessica grabbed Murakami and threw him away as Murakami was sent flying back against a nearby wall as it crashed.

Gao got up as her telekinesis clashed again with Danny's Iron Fist. As they both were sent flying back, Davos rushed at Gao with a knife, slicing her throat and then cutting her head off.

"Thanks." Danny said.

"I suppose our job is done… brother." Davos shrugged.

Vanessa went out but to her horror, she faced Dex as she backed off, frightened. Dex smirked, about to kill the person Fisk loves before Matt jumped down and rolled down the table before Matt kicked Dex and he fell against a lamp as it crashed and collapsed. Matt grabbed Vanessa, forcing her on her knees as Dex picked a bowl and threw it but Matt took cover behind a table, while Dex grabbed a glass vase. Before he could throw it, Fisk slammed him against a brick wall and punched him in his face. Dex dodged another punch as Fisk hit the brick wall and screamed in pain as the wall shattered and his fist hurt.

Dex grabbed a bowl and hit Fisk in the head and freed himself from Fisk's grip before throwing it at Fisk. Dex ran upstairs but Fisk grabbed him and threw him down before slamming him against the railing. Fisk then threw Dex away as Dex was sent crashing against lamps.

Murakami got up as he jumped over Jessica, while she tried to rush at him. Luke threw a punch but Murakami grabbed Luke by his arm, while kicking Jessica back and throwing Luke down and punching him in the face. Luke grabbed Murakami by his throat as he got up and enraged, he grabbed Murakami's head and repeatedly slammed Murakami's head against a wall, crushing it repeatedly until there was nothing left but a bloody mess instead of where Murakami's skull was as Luke roared, while Jessica looked disgusted at the bloody mess.

"Ugh." Jessica groaned.

"The old man did say " _Go for the head._ " Luke said, panting out.

As Elektra and Maki clashed their blades and were in a stalemate, Elektra threw them away, while Clint and Barney entered. Maki dodged as Elektra and Colleen attempted to slice her, while Clint and Barney shot at her too.

"OK. Guess we'll have to do this another way." Clint fired another arrow that Maki caught and smirked.

"You're going to have to do better than that." Maki taunted.

"Just wait." Clint pressed a button on his bow and the arrow in Maki's hand exploded in sparks, knocking her down as Maki yelped. As she tried to get up, Elektra grabbed Maki's sword and disarmed her and as Maki's vision cleared, the last thing she saw was the shining steel of Colleen's katana before her head rolled down the floor and body collapsed on the floor.

Russo kicked Frank back and rushed at him but Frank picked a poker from the fireplace and impaled it on Russo's chest as he widened his eyes. Before Russo could do anything else, as the shock flooded through him, Frank gave him a murdering glare, while nearing his face. "You're gonna burn in Hell forever, you son of a bitch. Goodbye, old friend and say "Hi" to Rawlins and Wolf from me." He threw Russo into the fireplace, while the flames consumed Russo, who screamed in pain until he ceased to shake around and his body went limp.

Matt jumped and kicked Fisk before dodging Fisk's punch but Fisk grabbed Matt and slammed him against a table as it crashed and proceeded to pummel him. Dex picked some cutlery and threw it at the chandelier above as Matt kicked Fisk back and rolled away to dodge. Dex threw more knives and forks at Fisk but Fisk's special jacket from Melvin protected him.

Matt picked two plastic sticks from the chandelier as he blocked the cutlery that Dex threw at him. Matt jumped at Dex, kicking him back before he dodged Dex's punch and hit him in the face as Dex crashed against the balcony window.

Fisk handed Vanessa his jacket as he accompanied her outside.

"What about you?" Vanessa asked.

"Keep it. Please." Fisk said. "I'll meet you downstairs. Go!"

Dex threw Matt back in through the window before Dex threw at Fisk shards of glass. Matt kicked him in the face as Dex fell down. Matt dodged Dex's punch and hit him in the face as Dex fell back against a couch. Fisk pulled the glass shards out of his hip, while Matt dodged Dex's punch again and hit him in the face and kicked him as Dex fell down on the chair. Dex saw Vanessa and attempted to throw a tray at her but Matt jumped and blocked it before it could hit her. Fisk then grabbed Dex and with a roar, Fisk slammed his back against the brick wall as it shattered and broke Dex's back.

Fisk panted out in relief until Matt got up as he faced his nemesis. Matt dodged Fisk's punch and hit him in the face twice. Fisk hit Matt in the face too but Matt made Fisk stagger with a left hook as Fisk leaned towards a chair. Matt got up on his feet and hit Fisk again, repeatedly pummeling him as Matt roared. As Fisk recovered, he headbutted Matt, dazing him as Matt fell down. Fisk looked at Vanessa, while she had tears in her eyes until Matt got up and punched Fisk again, as Fisk fell down on his knees.

"Stop." Vanessa whispered.

Matt pummeled Fisk repeatedly as Fisk spat out blood with each punch he received.

"Stop it, please!" Vanessa screamed, causing for Matt to stop as the Defenders, Elektra, Clint and Barney and even Frank looked at him in horror. Matt grabbed Fisk by his head, about to snap his neck before Matt let out a loud scream of pain and anger he had been bottling up since Midland Circle as the heroes felt relieved that Matt did not let his demons take over.

"I will never stop hunting Karen Page or Foggy Nelson." Fisk taunted. "I will tell the world who you really are."

"Wilson…" Vanessa pleaded.

"Vanessa, please, go. Please!" Fisk said.

"You… you want me to kill you." Matt grunted in realization as he pointed at Fisk.

"No prison can keep me. You know that. Come on! Kill me!" Fisk urged.

"No!" Matt snapped as he pointed at Fisk. "God knows I want to but you don't get to destroy who I am! You will go back to prison and you will live the rest of your miserable life in a cage, knowing you'll never have Vanessa." He pointed at Vanessa, while yelling at Fisk. "That this city rejected you. It beat you. I BEAT YOU!" Matt yelled at Fisk's face before he knelt down, nearing his face to Fisk's as he lifted his mask and revealed his eyes. "You'll keep my secret and you won't harm Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, Jessica Jones or anyone else. Because if you do, I  _will_  go after your wife." Fisk snarled and glared at Matt hatefully. "And I will prove Vanessa ordered the attempted murder of Agent Ray Nadeem and like her husband, she'll spend the rest of her life in a cell."

Matt got up, putting his mask back as Fisk looked at Vanessa sadly. "I failed you. I failed you."

"No." Vanessa shook her head.

"Everything that I tried to build for us… Vanessa… today was the happiest day of my life." Fisk smiled.

Vanessa neared him and held his face. "All I wanted was you. Please." They neared each other before Fisk turned to Matt.

"If I agree to your demands, you leave my wife alone. You leave Vanessa free." Fisk said as Matt neared him.

"If you keep your word." Matt said before he offered his hand.

"Then, it's a deal." Fisk and Matt shook hands as they heard banging and footsteps as Matt, Elektra, Jessica, Luke, Danny, Colleen, Frank and Clint decided to leave.

Madani, Brett and the NYPD entered as Brett saw Matt upstairs before turning to Fisk. "Wilson Fisk. You're under arrest."

Madani and Brett then saw the dead bodies of Maki, Russo, Gao and Murakami, while Shades was under the debris. "Take them in and those bodies into the morgue."

"Good riddance." Madani scoffed at seeing Russo's scorched corpse.

"I can't move…" Dex said slowly as one of the cops took off his mask.

"He isn't the real Daredevil." Brett said.

"How do you know?" The officer questioned.

"Because he is." Brett said, pointing at Matt, who was just walking away.

* * *

On a rooftop, Matt, Elektra, Jessica, Luke, Danny, Davos and Colleen and Frank observed the panorama of New York City as they smiled. Finally, New York was safe from their sworn enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Group fight scenes can be tricky, I hope I did a good job with this.
> 
> The next chapter is going to be concluding epilogue to this story and setting up the sequel which I will write sometime in late Summer. You'll need to read the epilogue to understand why.
> 
> So, what do you guys think?
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Defenders celebrate their victory until it is interrupted by an unexpected sudden tragedy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Sometime later, they had a memorial in Clinton Church for Father Lantom as Matt and Maggie spoke in the crypt area.

"Last time we spoke, I confronted Father Lantom. I was angry." Matt said. "I'd change that if I could."

"If God allowed that, there'd be no future." Maggie told him. "Just people endlessly rewriting the past."

"Yeah." Matt nodded. "I think he was trying to tell me that for a long time. His last words were, " _Forgive us._ ""

"Do you think that's possible?" Maggie wondered.

"He told me something, years ago, when this happened…" Matt pointed at his blind eyes. "…that I never forgot. See, I was pretty angry at God and bitter towards his world. How could a loving God blind me? Why? Anyway, he told me… God's plan is like a beautiful tapestry. And the tragedy of being human is that we only get to see it from the back. With all the ragged threads and the muddy colors. And we only get a hint at the true beauty that would be revealed if we could see the whole pattern on the other side… as God does. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about recently because, I've realized that I've made some bad choices and hurt people that I love without meaning to."

"You don't always know when you start down a false path." Maggie assured him.

"No, you don't and that's my point." Matt said. "I realize if my life had turned out any differently, that I would never have become Daredevil. And although people have died on my watch, people, who shouldn't have, there are countless others that have lived. So, maybe it is all a part of God's plan. Maybe my life has been exactly as it had to be."

Maggie nodded. "You have a generous heart, Matthew." Matt chuckled. "To see the good in so much pain."

"Not always. In fact, Father Lantom used to help me with that. Help me see the error of my ways. I could use someone else to help me with that now. Once in a while." Matt said.

"I'm a nun, Matthew. Helping is what I was called to do." Maggie agreed.

* * *

Jessica, Luke, Colleen, Danny, Elektra and Frank attended too as Matt went up to the podium to the church. "Feels like half of Hell's Kitchen is here today to say goodbye to Father Paul Lantom." Matt said, smiling. "Seems fair. He certainly welcomed everyone here, Catholic or not. And he expected those of us who were to, uh, look for ways to do good in our community. Not even the kids got out of that requirement. I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers his "suggestion" that we give some of our First Communion money to the poor box." Everyone chuckled. "And that was his way. To think of the community, and the, uh and the individuals in it. To think in terms of, "What can I give?""

"He gave his life, right here in this church, protecting others. Standing up to men who used fear as a tool to set neighbors against one another. If Father Lantom had an enemy, I would say it was fear. For me, personally, he spent many years trying to get me to face my own fears.

To understand how they enslaved me, how they divided me from the people that I love. He counseled me to transcend my fears, to be brave enough to forgive and see the possibilities of being a man without fear. That was his legacy. And now it's up to all of us to… uh… live up to it."

* * *

**_Later, Nelson's Meats_ **

They ate in Nelson's shop as the charges against Foggy's family were dropped.

"How's agent Bernard and Clint?" Karen asked.

"Clint didn't violate his parole as he was helping a federal investigation, so neither of them are facing any legal consequences, however, he still needs to finish his sentence of house arrest." Foggy said.

"I guess you heard, Special Agent in Charge Hattley flipped." Karen smirked. "She corroborated Ray's dying declaration.

"We did hear." Matt said as Foggy and Karen looked uncomfortable.

"And Ray did wake up for… like a moment. It was quite a shock but he's now SAC of New York branch. Special Agent in Charge Ray Nadeem." Karen said.

"So, the FBI is getting an enema, the Hand and Russo are dead, Shades is back in prison and Fisk is… still breathing." Foggy grumbled as everyone sighed.

"Yep. Still breathing."

"Headed to prison. Again." Karen nodded.

"Not exactly what I had in mind." Matt said.

"Are you sure he's not gonna break the deal you made with him?" Danny questioned.

"I'm sure that he loves Vanessa. Long as she's free, he should stay away." Matt said.

"And if she gets hit by a bus tomorrow?" Karen questioned.

"Yeah, well, then, we'll cross that bridge." Matt said. "What about Davos?"

"The scroll from Mr. Randall showed another hidden city of Order of Crane Mother." Danny said. "It's his legacy. He went to find it."

"Is he still angry at you?" Jessica asked.

"Not anymore. He knows now I did my best." Danny said.

"At least you made amends with your family." Jessica nodded, wondering what to do with Trish.

"So, are you gonna stay with us, Matt?" Luke asked.

"I was thinking about moving in with Elektra." Matt said uncomfortably.

"Really?" Karen laughed.

"I mean, we both fulfill each other…" Elektra teased.

"And I think the band is back together. I mean, we're not the Avengers but…" Luke shrugged.

"Defenders of New York?" Jessica shrugged as they all laughed.

"And where's Frank?" Matt asked. "Didn't see him anywhere."

"Last I heard, he went to Michigan. Who knows why." Karen shrugged.

Foggy was about to pick up his pen and write on a napkin when suddenly…

"Foggy." Karen looked at him in horror. "Your hand."

"What?" Foggy asked as suddenly, his hand was turning into dust. "What the…"

Suddenly, he faded away into dust as Karen screamed. "Foggy!"

"Karen, what happened? I can't hear his heartbeat!" Matt said.

"I don't know, one moment he…"

Suddenly, screams sounded off around them as people were turning into dust, much to their horror.

Matt groaned as smashing, alarms and screams overloaded his hearing. They all went out to see cars and choppers crash, people screaming and ranting as some of them were turning into dust, blown away by the wind.

"Oh, my God…" Colleen said.

"Something's wrong." Danny said as they all turned to him to see his hands turn into dust.

"Danny…" Colleen trailed off before Danny and Luke suddenly turned into dust too, blown away by the wind. "Danny!"

"Luke!" Jessica exclaimed as Luke vanished too.

Karen covered her mouth, while Matt's hearing was overwhelmed by screams and explosions as helicopters and cars crashed and people started to disappear and they all wondered whether this was a nightmare.

"Matt… what the hell is going on?" Karen whispered, horrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you all know what just happened. And yes, I do plan a sequel but I will get on with it, once I get Avengers: Endgame on BluRay.
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed the story to its end.
> 
> With regards
> 
> Bl4ckHunter


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